If I Could Turn Back Time
by fantagrl64
Summary: go away.
1. ch1

**If I Could Turn Back Time**

**I do not own Sakura, Naruto, or any other of Kishimoto's beloved characters. But sometimes, I pretend Kakashi Hatake belongs to me!**

* * *

Delicate fingers traced over the names that were newly added since the most recent battle with Otogakure.

_We've lost another battle, Naruto...I wish you were here._

If only she and her ANBU squad had come sooner that day, she would've had a chance to save him. He would still be alive and probably saving this village. She couldn't help but blame herself. _What kind of medic am I, if I couldn't even save my best friend?_

Haruno slid down to her knees as tears threatened to spill over. _Damn you, Orochimaru._

She's lost two members of Team 7 because of this man. It was already too late for Sasuke a couple years before Naruto's death. Orochimaru had successfully obtained his goal in taking over his body and claiming the sharingan for his own.

From there...chaos had spread all over Sound, and eventually Fire and Sand territory as well.

Before she knew it, this chaos has escalated into this country's fourth great ninja war; and without Naruto, nothing has ever been the same.

The pinkette was broken out of her reverie as she sensed a strong familiar presence from behind.

Not bothering to turn around, the girl straightened her posture and wiped a wet cheek with the back of her hand.

"Tsunade-sama. What brings you here?", she asked softly, staring at the ground.

"Sakura," the Godaime spoke firmly. " It breaks my heart to see you like this"

A small whimper emitted from her student's throat. The golden-haired woman crouched next to the young kunoichi and grasped her shoulder gently.

"This can't go on forever, Sakura. It's been 6 years. You must move on..."

"I'm sorry...", the kunoichi muttered as she moved away from her former sensei. "I'm sorry that I'm not as strong as you, Godaime-sama"

Tsunade shook her head. She hated to see her in such a wreck. She didn't want her student to have the same life as hers. Not after her brother and her boyfriend had died. "When you're done, I have a mission for you. It's a solo mission."

Sakura whipped her head around with a look of bewilderment. "Is this mission so important that it couldn't wait until the next day? It's the middle of the goddamn night!"

Expecting a snappy comeback, the pink-haired girl was surprised to see her former master's lips split into a grin.

"It's a mission that _I've _thought up. Surely, you would take it. If not, I will understand. It's a really perilous, life-changing mission. In fact, you may not ever come back. I'm sure Kakashi would-"

"No. Tell me the mission, I can handle anything you throw at me.", the girl said with eager eyes. It's not everyday one would get a solo-mission made-up by legendary slug herself.

The godaime smirked "I know you can", she said while pulling a necklace from her shirt pocket and swung it in front of her eyes.

Sakura stared at the piece of jewelry with awe.

The chain was a shiny gold, holding up a sparkling pink gemstone. The girl blinked as she noticed the stone held a magnificent glow to it.

"It's magnificent...", she breathed.

"And its all yours. It took a couple of weeks to make it..."

The pink-haired teen chuckled. "What is this, a reward in advance?"

"This is part of your mission", Tsunade replied before taking a deep breath. "It's infused with _my _chakra"

The 18 year old arched an eyebrow, encouraging her to go on.

"This may sound crazy, but... this will send you back in time...to the day you become team 7. Since you and your former teammates were close, I have chosen you perfect for the job. You will re-live the chuunin exams, where you will encounter Orochimaru once again. Prevent him from giving Sasuke the curse mark, and if you succeed, you will save the future."

Her student stared up at her with eyes as wide as saucers. "T-time travel?", she stammered. "Is that seriously possible?"

"It is. And it's a forbidden jutsu, filled with numerous risks..." she sighed, " I never intended to use it but. I think we have no other choice. Our world is in danger, Sakura."

Sakura fell silent. Can she do this? Can she throw away this life and start anew? It all sounds too good to be true. She gazed over at the memorial stone. All the names freshly carved into the stone. All her friends who died for their village. Each one of them would do whatever it took to protect their loved ones. Now it was her turn.

She knew what she had to do.

She turned to the Godaime and bowed.

"I...accept your mission."

The blonde gave a sad smile as she opened the clasp to the necklace and walked towards her beloved student.

"I knew you would. And I know you can do this. I'm sorry this is all on short notice but...this is may be the only chance you'll get. Who knows what tomorrow will bring."

Sakura nodded, "I understand, teacher." Orochimaru and his army are closing in.

"Take care, Sakura. I taught you well." Hazel eyes blinked back tears as the clasp clicked around her neck.

"You too, Tsunade-sama" Sakura whispered as a single tear rolled down her cheek, and she felt a sudden nauseating tingle run through her spine. She collapsed onto her hokage's awaiting arms as darkness engulfed her vision.

_Thank you, Tsunade-sama..._


	2. ch2

**If I Could Turn Back Time**

**rewritten! Yeah, the first 3 pages of this story pretty much sucked. so i wanted to do it over. You don't have to read it. This is really just to make me feel better...**

* * *

**_Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep_!**

A hand came out from under the covers and slammed on the snooze button.

She started to fall back to sleep when a loud female voice was heard from downstairs.

" **SAKURA, GET UP. It's your first day as a genin, remember? "**

Sakura jolted up. _What the Hell?! Mom?_

"first day as a genin..." she muttered sleepily

Then her eyes widened. She remembered. Her fingers touched her neck and found that Tsunade-sama's necklace was still there. _Did It work???_

Sakura jumped out of bed and looked at the mirror. " Oh. MY. GOD, " Sakura gasped as she looked at her reflection.

_My hair...its long again. And my boobs are gone! I'm twelve again!  
_

She was right. Eighteen year old Sakura Haruno was indeed, back in her twelve-year old self.

Sakura felt tears in her eyes. "It worked! It Worked" she cried as she did cartwheels in the room.

" **SAKURA! Isn't It Time For You To Get Going" **the voice downstairs cried.

"Uh... I knowww, I'm on my way out now" Sakura got dressed, put on her forehead protector and hurriedly walked to school.

As Sakura was walking, she spotted a familiar blond stepped out of the flowershop. The blonde eyed Sakura and smiled, " Well, Well, if it isn't billboard brow".

Sakura smirked. "Good morning Ino" Sakura replied and walked past a very confused looking Ino

_What happened to Ino-**pig**? _Ino thought as she watched her ex-best friend's retreating form.

**xxx **

Sakura flounced into the classroom and spotted Naruto at his desk, turning a bright shade of red as he caught himself staring at her. Sakura smiled warmly and walked up to him.

"Hey Naruto, do you mind if I sit next to you?" Sakura cooed.

"S-Sure Sakura-chan" Naruto said, blushing even more.

Feeling the nostalgia, Sakura heppily sat down in between Naruto and Sasuke.

From the corner of her eye, she watched Uchiha, Sasuke staring mindlessly at the wall in front of him. How she wished she could pummel his ass right then and there.

_'pft..look at him. Thinking he's so damn COOL. What a gay pussy.' _

Sasuke sensed someone glaring daggers at him and shifted his eyed from the wall, to Sakura. He was startled a bit, but he glared right back. She didn't look away though. Instead, they had a little glaring contest.

"Uchiha" Sakura hissed.

_Since when did she call me by my last name?_ Sasuke wondered.

"**You stay away from Sasuke, Forehead, do you hear me?!?!"** Ino growled behind Sakura. Sakura tore her gaze from Sasuke and looked over her shoulder, where Ino sat.

"Oi, you seem upset", the pink-haired girl smirked.

The Yamanaka blond flinched at how calm her old rival was acting this morning. It pissed her off to no end.

"Girls are so troublesome" Shikamaru sighed out of nowhere.

"Oh Shut Up Shikamaru, your just jealous that Sasuke is wayyy cooler than you!", Ino continued ranting.

Iruka-sensei came into the classroom and announced "As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing, what comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only genin, first level ninjas. All the genin will be grouped into three- man squads. All squads will be led by a jounin, an elite ninja.

"Well somebody's gotta be in Sasuke's group I wonder, who" Ino's eerie voice can be heard from behind.

Sakura didn't want to waste her breath on this girl. But an idea popped into her mind which made the girl smirk wider.

" I will now announce the squads…", Iruka spoke loudly.

Sakura turned her head at an angle so that Ino could see her face from behind.

"Hey, Ino-pig..."

A throbbing vein was evident on Ino's forehead. "Eh? What's the matter, Billboard brow?"

"I'll bet you your lunch money that I'll be in Sasuke's team"

Ino smirked. "Oh yeah? It's on, forehead. And if you aren't on Sasuke's team, I get _yours"_

"Even better, Yamanaka-slut. How about, ifI _don't _end up in Sasuke's team, I leave him alone for good. And if _you _happen to get picked to be in his squad as well, I'll do whatever you choose. For the whole entire year."

The dumb blonde vexed when 'yamanaka-slut' had reached her ears, but flashed Sakura a wide smirk. " Be prepared to be my slave, Haruuno. This is going to be a good year..."

Sasuke couldn't help overhearing Sakura's bet. He was amazed at the girl's confidence.

"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno…… "YESSS!", Naruto cheered. Sakura just smiled. _And the moment we've been waiting for..._

"…and Sasuke Uchiha" Iruka said. Sakura whipped her head around to face her ex-rival, who was falling to a state of depression, reach into her pocket and hand over her money. Sakura smirked as she counted the 1,129 yen. (which is about 10 bucks)

"I'm DOOOMED" she heard Naruto cry. "Iruka-sensei, why does a great ninja like me have to be put in a team with Sasuke.?"

While Naruto and Iruka-sensei were arguing, Sakura looked at Sasuke once more._ I'm gonna make sure Orichimaru never gave you the cured mark Sasuke. Mark my words. I'm not that crazed fangirl you used to know anymore. I became a lot stronger ever since you left me..._


	3. ch3

Later on in the day, Team 7 meet Kakashi-sensei and go up on the roof.

"Okay", the sensei began, "why don't you introduce yourselves? One at a time. Our likes/dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future. Things like that"

After he and Naruto introduced themselves, it was Sakura's turn.

_Okay, I'm not gonna act like a total idiot like the last time I did this. _

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like many things, like lilies and cherry blossoms. My hobbies? Taking quizzes, training, and memorizing things."

"Things I hate?," she took a deep breath, "Well, I especially _hate_ people who think they're _so_ superior that they treat others like dirt." Sakura tried to blink back tears in her eyes. "People who would betray their friends, play around with their feelings." Her voice cracked. "Getting all worked up on their ambitions, never realizing the people who care about them the most…"

There was a long pause. Sakura shook her head. "and my dreams for the future, is to be the best kunoichi I can ever be." _Ugh, don't cry Sakura, whatever you do, don't cry_ She said to herself. She wouldn't dare look at the Uchiha boy sitting next to her. That would only make her burst into tears.

Everybody was looking intently at Sakura. Especially the boy next to her.

_What does she mean by that?, _he asked himself. _Who the hell is she talking about?_

"Very interesting Sakura", Kakashi said carefully. "And last but not least…", he pointed at Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain…someone."

Sakura snorted.

All three men, once again, looked at her.

"What?", Sakura snapped, giving everyone a cold stare.

"Okay…I can tell, each of you are very unique.", Kakashi said. "We'll have our first mission tomorrow"

"What kind of mission", Naruto jumped up.

"It's a test all four of us will do together. A survival exercise."

"What!" Naruto cried.

"Of the 27 graduates, only 9 genin will pass. The other 18 will fail. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass/fail test. And the chances of you failing is at least 66 percent."

Sakura nodded. Naruto was still shocked, and Sasuke? Well he was just being Sasuke.

"Be at the designated training spot at 5 a.m. And bring your ninja gear. Oh, and tomorrow you'd better skip breakfast, or you'll puke"

_Ha! This'll be a cinch! _Sakura said to herself. _Tomorrow will be interesting._

----HAHA! In the next chapter, you'll finally see Sakura in action!----


	4. ch4

It was about 5 a.m. in the morning.

Sakura was already walking to the meeting spot and saw Sasuke and Naruto arriving as well. Poor Naruto was sorta sleep walking.

Team 7 waited silently for many hours until Kakashi arrived.

"You're Late!" Naruto and Sakura screamed. She knew he'd be late but she wanted to carry on the tradition of yelling at their sensei with Naruto.

"Sorry, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way."

"LIAR!!!" Naruto yelled.

Kakashi took out an alarm clock and placed it on a tree stump.

"Let's get started. The alarm clock is set for noon. All you have to do is take these bells from me", he explained as he held up two small bells.

"If you can't get them by noon", he continued, "you'll go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and watch while I eat in front of you."

_Good thing I ate a light breakfast, _Sakura smiled to herself.

"Now if you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells".

"he he he, you can't even dodge the blackboard eraser, sensei!" Naruto said.

"In the real world, those with the least talent bark the loudest. Losers, dead lasts"

"Okay" he continued, "start when I say…"

Naruto was furious. He grabbed his kunai from his holster and charged at the sensei. Just as he was charging, Kakashi disappeared (ninja style!) and reappeared right behind him, holding Naruto's kunai to his head. Naruto was astonished.

He let go of Naruto saying " I didn't say start yet". Everone stepped away from Kakashi.

"Well now I know that you're prepared to come at me with an intent to kill. So it seems like I'll be able to like you guys."

"Ready…. Begin", Kakashi-sensei announced.

The three sprang into a hiding place.

Sakura hid under a bush.

Kakashi stood there. "The basics of being a ninja are erasing your presence and hiding yourself well" _Good they're all concealed well._ He thought.

"You and Me! Right Now!" Naruto yelled with his arms crossed.

"You know, compared to the other two, you're a little weird" Kakashi said

"The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto charged at him once again, but jumped back when the sensei reached into his holster.

"Ninja fighting lesson number one, taijutsu" Kakashi said as he was taking something out.

_Taijutsu is hand-hand combat! But why is he reaching for a weapon. _Naruto thought

Kakashi quickly took out the infamous _Icha Icha Paradise_ book from his holster.

Sakura has been watching from afar. Her eyes widened. _Of course! I'll just do what me and Naruto did before! That time when Kakashi-sensei gave us the bell test for the **second** time…without Sasuke _(Naruto manga 246). _But this test will need teamwork._

She appeared next to Sasuke who was hiding in a tree. She saw Sasuke flinch a little. _Ha! I scared Sasuke! Now, to rub it in his face! _Sakura smirked.

"Did I see you flinch Uchiha?"

"No! You were probably seeing things…"

"HAHA I scared you didn't I?"

"Ugh. What do you want, you're going to blow my cover" he hissed.

"Listen, whether we're friends or not, we're a team. You, me, and Naruto have to work together to retrieve those bells. That's what the test is all about!" she hissed back.

_She has a point there, Sasuke_, Inner Sasuke said.

_I don't need those two, they'll just get in my way!_ Sasuke argued with his inner self.

_Fine! I can't believe you're so mean._

_Shove it up your ass you bastard._

_There you go again, calling yourself a bastard._

"Yo, Sasuke. Are you with me or not?", Sakura waved a hand in front of his face.

Sasuke snapped back to reality and glared at the pink haired kunoichi.

"You'll only get in my way, you're too weak and defenseless. I'll get a bell myself."

_Dude, that was harsh, _Inner Sasuke said.

Sakura was boiling mad. _You're too weak. _Those words repeated over and over in her head, like a broken record. Oh how she hated those words. _Does he have **Any** idea who he's talking too?_ Sakura thought. _Sakura Haruno, the strongest girl in present day Konoha, next to Tsunade-sama. Heck, I practically even surpassed Her! I'll show that little bastard who he's dealing with. _Sakura clenched her fists.

"**WEAK?!?!" **Sakura exploded in fury, her voice shook up the whole forest, a flock of birds flew in all directions. Even the squirrels dropped their nuts (not _those _nuts).

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Naruto, who was already caught in a trap, and Kakashi-sensei, looked over at the tree Sakura and Sasuke were in.

Sakura grabbed Sasuke by the collar and held him up high to her face. "Listen to me punk, I'm stronger than you think." Her eyes narrowed at his face. "If you can retrieve a bell before _I _do, which you won't, _then_ you can call me weak, got it?", she snarled and dropped him.

"It's on. _Weakling_", Sasuke glared.

Sakura screamed and punched him in the stomach. The Uchiha went flying for a looooong distance until he crashed through a bunch of trees. _That strength. _Sasuke was shocked. This was the most shocking day of his life. Well actually, the second. The first was when his brother killed off his clan. Never in his life did he see such power in a little girl. _What is she?_

Kakashi and Naruto were speechless.

_Unbelievable! Her strength, it reminds me of…one of the legendary sannin… Tsunade-sama!. _Kakashi thought.

"Woah, Sakura! You sure kicked his ass!", Naruto yelled to his teammate.

Sakura looked over at Kakashi and smiled menacingly.

"I _will _get one of those bells", she told him, running towards him with green chakra glowing at her fingertips.

_I can actually see the chakra in her hands._ Kakashi thought. _Better make a substitution jutsu._

But Sakura could spot a substitution when she sees one. She threw a kunai at the Kakashi substitute and watch it poof into a log. _Now where is he? Above… behind…to my left….to my right….AHA!!!_

"BELOW!!!", Sakura punched the ground with her bare fists.

The ground seemed like it exploded as clouds of dust filled the air. The ground shook violently.

**Meanwhile**------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Sasuke's P.O.V._

Sasuke was walking towards the training grounds again.

_Wow, I really landed far_.

The ground shook, and he almost lost balance.

"What's this, an earthquake? Batter see what's going on"

**Back to Sakura and Kakashi**----------------------------------------------------------

Chunks of earth uplifted from the ground and poor Kakashi-sensei was wedged in between them.

"Found you", Sakura smirked.

_What insane power,_ Kakashi thought. _She has perfect chakra control. Her level, is way past genin. Maybe even chunnin. _

Sakura looked at her sensei. _Now that he realizes I'm strong, time to unleash my plan. Well, actually it was Naruto's plan, but he was fifteen at that time._

"Hey sensei! I suggest it's time to use your sharingan?" Sakura called.

"H-how'd you know I had the sharingan?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura closed her mouth. _Damn, I forgot he didn't show us yet._

"Ummm…I heard a rumor that you had one" Sakura lied.

"Oh" Kakashi said. "Well then, if you want to see the sharingan in action, you won't like it."

Sakura smiled as she watched her sensei slide his forehead protector up and revealed his red sharingan eye.

Sakura quickly threw a kunai in a different direction, which activated a trap. Several kunai shot out from the trap toward Kakashi's direction. As soon as he was distracted, Sakura disappeared and hid behind a tree. _My plan is working! I can't attack him directly, his hand sealing is way too fast. All I have to do is get close enough …_

Meanwhile, Kakashi was also hiding. _What's she gonna do now? _He poked his head from the bush and analyzed the training grounds for any signs of pink hair.

"Psst…sensei, over here", Sakura whispered.

Kakashi turned around and there was Sakura right in front of him.

"In that _Icha Icha _series you're reading…", Sakura began loud and slowly, "what happens to the main character…in the book…is that…." Sakura opened her mouth.

Kakashi's eyes grew wide. _Oh-Oh_ _No! With my sharingan, I will be able to read what her lips are going to say next! And she will spoil everything!_

Kakashi quickly plugged his ears with his fingers and closed his eyes shut.

"LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa!!!!!! I can't hear you!"

_**Jingle!**_

"Huh?". He opened his eyes and saw a wide grin plastered on the girl's face.

She held up a bell and stuck her tongue out, " Hehe. A ninja should look underneath the underneath, right sensei?"

---------------yippeee im done!------------- plz review!----lalalaa----------lalalalalalalala---lalalalalala----------------


	5. ch5

**sigh I finally decided to get my lazy ass to the computer. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, blah blah blah….. is this necessary?**

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Huh?". He opened his eyes and saw a wide grin plastered on the girl's face.

She held up a bell and stuck her tongue out, " Hehe. A ninja should look underneath the underneath, right sensei?"

* * *

Kakashi's eyes looked as if they were gonna pop out of his sockets. 

Sakura only smirked. "What?"

"W-Well, it's just", Kakshi stuttered, " Y-you're the first person to actually steal a b-bell. Let alone pass the t-test."

"Well, I'm different from the other two", Sakura put her hands on her hips, "If you don't mind, I'll be at the training spot meditating"

She didn't wait for a reply and started to walk off.

_Piece of cake!_

_**Cha!!! We sure showed him- inner sakura**_

_I was wondering when you'd show up._ Sakura sat on the ground and began to meditate.

_**Yeah, Yeah, YEAH! I can't wait to see Uchiha's face when he finds out he lost to a girl!**_

_Shaddup! I'm trying to meditate! I'm starting to miss you being gone._

_**Ouch, that hurt.**_

_Good._

_

* * *

_

_Meanwhile…_

Sasuke lingered back to the grounds only to find chunks of earth sticking out all over the place.

"What the hell happened here?" he asked aloud to himself.

"Sakura-chan did it," Naruto said behind him, struggling to free himself from Kakashi's trap. He was still hanging upside down with a rope tied to a branch tangled with his foot.

Sasuke turned around with a confused look on his face.

"No really, what happened", Sasuke asked again.

Naruto cut the rope with his kunai and freed himself. He jumped down from the tree and landed in front of Sasuke. "I'm telling you teme! Sakura-chan has insane super powers!", Naruto said with his hands waving about in the air, looking like a madman.

"Tch, right…." Sakuke rolled his eyes. "Look, dobe, you're wasting my time. I could've gotten a bell by now." And walked away.

"Too late, teme! Sakura got a bell before you", Naruto called after him.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. _Sakura?!? That's impossible. She can't beat an elite jounin like Kakashi…_

_**How would you know? You never even saw the girl fight! –Inner Sasuke piped in.**_

_Because! I saw her skills back at the Academy! She's pathetic!_

"You're kidding", Sasuke said.

"I'm serious! Now it's just you and me teme! I'm gonna get a bell before you do!", Naruto pointed at him.

"You're such a loser", Sasuke smirked.

"WHAT WAS THAT TEME?!" Naruto raised a fist.

"hard of hearing, _dobe_?", Sasuke's smirk grew bigger.

"ARRG! I'm gonna destroy you" Naruto ran towards him.

But Sasuke already disappeared, making Naruto stumble as he punched only air.

Naruto dropped to his knees and cried out to the sky ,"WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME!!!" ( tch, so dramatic…)

* * *

Sasuke jumped from tree to tree in search of his sensei. He immediately stopped behind a tree when he spotted Kakashi, who was obviously waiting for him because he was calmly reading his pervy book in the middle of the grounds.

Sasuke appeared in front of Kakashi.

"Hello Sasuke-_kun_", Kakashi said, looking up from his book.

* * *

Back to Naruto…. 

Naruto, once again was caught in a trap and was hanging upside down with his arms crossed.

Just then, he spotted the memorial rock.

"There's food boxes on the rock!!" Naruto gasped and snickered to himself.

* * *

Back to Sasuke and Kakashi…. 

They stood there in silence.

Suddenly, Sasuke threw several shuriken at Kakashi.

"There's no use in just using normal attacks."

Sasuke smirked and flung a kunai at a tree, where a trap was set up.

" Another trap" Kakashi dodged them.

While Kakashi landed on the ground, Sasuke came up behind him and attempted to kick him in the face. _He's fast _Kakashi thought.

Kakashi grabbed his foot with one hand but Sasuke twisted his body and tried to punch him in the face.

Luckily, Kakashi grabbed his fist with his other hand.

_This is my chance_ Sasuke thought.

He kicked Kakashi with his other foot, causing Kakashi to let go of Sasuke's fist and block the attack.

Sasuke reached over and just barely touched the bell.

"This kid…" Kakashi looked surprised.

He pushed off and just stared at Sasuke.

"I guess I won't be able to read Icha Icha Paradise now, huh?"

"I'm different from the other two", Sasuke growled.

"That's what your buddy, Pinky told me as well" Kakashi answered.

Sasuke ignored that and brought himself to a stance, making super fast hand signs and saying "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu".(fireball techique)

Kakashi's eyes widened. _What! __That technique is way past genin!_

After the fire and smoke cleared away, Sasuke frowned. Kakashi-sensei was nowhere in sight.

_He's gone! Is he behind me? No. Above? Where is he? _Sasuke looked frantically.

_Hehehe! _Kakashi chuckled to himself. _He can't sense my chakra like that Haruno girl can._

"Beneath you!" Kakashi's hand shot up from the ground and grabbed Sasuke's leg, pulling him downward.

"Doton Shinjuuzanshu No Jutsu!" he said underground.

Causing a loud crashing sound.

Kakashi squatted in front of Sasuke, who's head was sticking out of the ground.

"How is it? Can't move?" Kakashi smiled as he watched Sasuke struggling.

"You're talents are exceptional. But not enough to get a bell from me." He said and poofed away.

* * *

Somewheres else….. 

Sakura heard a soft boom in the distance. She stopped meditating and got up from her sitting position.

_What's going on? _Sakura thought as she walked in that direction.

She made her way out of the bushes and found Sasuke's head sticking out of the ground, looking at her in surprise.

_Ah the good ol' days _Sakura smirked.

* * *

Back to Naruto…. 

Naruto sat on the rock, rubbing his hands together and snickering.

"All I have to do is eat this so I'll get enough energy to get a bell!" Naruto prepared his chopsticks. " Time to eat!!!"

Suddenly, Kakashi appeared behind the rock.

"Hey", Kakashi said.

Naruto grimaced "Uhhh… I was just kidding sensei"

"Nice try" Kakashi grinned.

**blech this chappie kinda sucked. I promise u, the next one will be better. o yea Sakura and Sasuke finally get some alone time. (Eww! its not what u think!) **


	6. CH6

**Hello my lovely readers! **

* * *

Sakura smirked and bent down. Looking down at the frustrated boy. 

"What are you doing down there Sasuke-_kun_?" Sakura purred and faked an innocent smile. Inwardly laughing inside.

"What does it look like to you?" Sasuke shot back and glared.

Sakura put a finger to her lips and pondered at this, trying to control her laughter.

"Sakura! I'm stuck here! Are you just gonna stand there or what?!?", Sasuke fumed.

"Well, Sasuke Uchiha, It looks to me like you're stuck." Sakura nodded. She loved annoying the shit outta him _Why didn't I do this more often?_

Sasuke sweatdropped.

"I will only free you if you say: Sakura Haruno is the strongest, smartest, prettiest all around better person than I, Sasuke Uchiha, a stoic, emotionless, arrogant, conceited, ego-maniac bastard who walks around the village with hair that resembles a chicken's ass." Sakura smiled evilly.

"…"

"I'm waiting" Sakura said in a sing-song voice.

"NO." Sasuke gave her the meanest glare he ever glared. But Sakura wasn't scared. She sat down with her legs crossed.

"Then I guess you'll be stuck there forever and ever and - "

"You're really annoying me" Sasuke cut her off.

Sakura gave him an amused look.

"Ugh. I'll get out by myself"

"Fine by me. Oh by the way _Uchiha_, I have something to show you", Sakura said as she reached into her holster.

"B-BAMM!!!" Sakura held out the bell in front of his face, her tongue sticking out.

Sasuke was stunned. _The dobe wasn't joking. _

But Sasuke kept his face emotionless as ever. Showing no signs of shock or astonishment.

Sakura frowned. "ARRGH! What? You want proof!" She was boiling mad.

"I'll show you proof!" Sakura yelled. She looked around and grabbed a rock the size of her hand and crushed it into dust.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise.

She walked over to a tree and knocked it down with an effortless punch, which made Sasuke's eye twitch.

Finally she stomped the ground hard which, once again, split the ground in several places, making huge fissures in the earth. The ground uplifted and split apart, freeing Sasuke out of the ground. His eyes were as big as saucers.

"Nuff Said" Sakura said as she walked towards the training area., leaving Sasuke in his thoughts.

Suddenly, the alarm clock set for noon rang out through the forest. Sasuke had no choice but to follow the kunoichi.

_**Damn, that performance made her look HOTT!-Inner Sasuke drooled**_

"Shut The Fuck Up!!!! I am sick and tired of your ridiculous bickering!", Sasuke yelled out loud.

_**Nice one. Jerk**_

"What was that Uchiha?" Sakura stopped, turning her neck stiffly to face him. A terrifying dark aura appeared over her face, her bangs concealing her eyes.

"Nothing", Sasuke muttered, trying not to pee his pants.

"That's what I thought" Sakura continued on walking, with Sasuke slowly walking behind.

* * *

**Sorry. this chapter was very short. I was rushing. **


	7. CH7

**Lalalalalalala……..dont own naruto**

Kakashi sighed as he looked at the three children before him.

Naruto is tied to a post, while Sakura is sitting on the ground to his left, and Sasuke, to the right. All three look a little tired and hungry.

"Uh-oh. Stomachs growling, huh? That's… too bad. Oh, and about this exercise? Well, I've decided: I won't send _any_ of you back to the Academy."  
Sakura froze. She had heard those words before.  
"That means all three of us...all three of us!", Naruto gasped.

" Yes, all three of you... are both being dropped from the program! Permanently!"

"Wha!!!", Naruto gasped

Everyone frowned.

"I don't see why the three of you deserve to be ninja?!", Kakashi sneered.

Sasuke has had it! He darted at the jounin, attempting to slash him with a kunai. But in 2 seconds flat, Sasuke was lying flat on his stomach with Kakashi sitting on his back, with one foot on his head.

"Do you guys think being a ninja is easy? Why do you think we broke you up into groups?"

"Teamwork…" Sakura muttered. _Drats. I forgot about that ever since that little deal with Sasuke. _

"That's right Sakura, but it's too late now!" Kakashi snapped

_I got to make this conversation as identical as the one I had last time so that he can give us a second chance!, _Sakura thought.

Then Sakura looked up. "But sensei! There were only two bells! If all three of us work together to get them, one of us will still have to be sent to the academy; thus leading to group conflict and the team would split up!", Sakura stopped and took a breath of air.

"Exactly! This test tries to put you three against each other. In this situation, we select those who can prioritize teamwork against themselves", he said and glanced down at Sasuke.

"Sakura. All you cared about was proving to Sasuke that you weren't weak. You saw Naruto stuck in a trap, who was right in front of you, but you were so concentrated on winning that you didn't even bother to free him. You may have great strength, but you are a sad excuse for a teammate."

**_Cha!? What does he know! Your'e the one always healing Naruto for the next 2 years!-_Inner Sakura**

"Naruto", Kakashi turned to the boy tied to the post, "_All you did was work on your own_!"

"And _YOU_", Kakashi referred to the boy he was comfortably sitting on, "you assumed those two were only going to burden you, and you did everything yourself. Even when Sakura offered to work as a team."

Sasuke winced as Kakashi's foot dug harder into his head.

"If all three of you have come at me all at once, maybe you could have gotten a bell."

"But Kakashi-sensei! I _did_ manage to--"

"You managed to get a bell? Congratulations my Sakura, but that wasn't the real answer to my test."

" It's true, ninja's need well-developed abilities", Kakashi-sensei continued, "but it's teamwork that is much more important. An individual action that disrupts the teamwork will result in danger or even death for the teammates."

"For example", Kakashi said as he took out his kunai and held it against Sasuke's throat, " Sakura! Kill Naruto or Sasuke will die!"

Naruto's eyes bugged out. Sakura nodded and Kakashi put his kunai away.

" And what would happen to you on a _real_ mission? That trick may have been clever enough to work on me, but I'm not so sure about…"

"What Trick?! Tell me! Tell me!", Naruto asked

"Shut up, Dobe", Sasuke snapped. Although… he _was _curious as well.

Sakura looked down. _I was too confident in myself. Teamwork was the real answer to this exercise nonetheless… I should have stuck with it._

"In every mission, you put your life on the line", Kakashi said as he got off Sasuke. (Sasuke's POV: nooo sensei! Don't get off! HAHA im kiddin around with ya…or am i….)

Kakashi walked over to the memorial rock behind him and stared at it. "The numerous names carved on this stone…all those names are praised as heroes in this village."

When Sakura heard this, she drooped her shoulders. A few of _her_ friends were carved on that rock the last time she visited it. Including…Naruto's. **(A.N: that wasn't the stone she visited by the way, in chp. 1. That was his grave! His name happens to be on the cenotaph too thank u very much) **

"Oooh!! Hey, I've decided that _I'm _going to have my name carved in that stone! A Hero! A HERO!!! I won't DIE a useless death!", Naruto tried to jump up and down, though he was still tied up, he managed to wiggle.

Sakura's eyes grew big and almost turned pale. She fell back on the ground and landed on her rear-end.

Naruto and Sasuke looked over at Sakura, who was rocking back and forth in a fetal position.

"What's wrong Sakura-chan?" Naruto grew concerned.

Sakura snapped out of it. "Huh?",

all three men gave questioning looks at her.

"Oh, n-nothing, sorry Kakashi-sensei."

"Okay. I'll give you guys one more chance." Kakashi said. "You may eat your lunch so you will have enough energy to try this test again. If I see any of you giving food to Naruto, you will fail."

lalalalalala catscratch!


	8. CH8

Hellooooooo!!!! yay my social studies exit project is finally done with! but you guys don't care. NoOoOoOo...! All you reeli care about is reading the chapter. FINE!!! You're all selfish!!! just kidding! - well anyways, now that im done, I can focus on more important things, like fanfiction. yaaaaaaaay...im such a loser :(

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Okay. I'll give you guys one more chance." Kakashi said. "You may eat your lunch so you will have enough energy to try this test again. If I see any of you giving food to Naruto, you will fail."

* * *

And with that, there was a poof of smoke and sensei was disappeared. 

Sakura looked at her bento box ( japanese food box), then looked up at Naruto.

"NO Problem!", Naruto said rather loudly to nobody, " I don't need to eat! Not for days! Not even weeks!"

Then he groaned and clutched his grumbling stomach.

Sakura was prepared to offer her food. But Sasuke beat her to it.

"Here", Sasuke sighed.

Naruto looked at him in astonishment, "Sasuke! You'll surely get caught and be sent back to the Academy!"

Sasuke was about to speak but Sakura interupted.

"If you don't eat, you won't have enough strength. That would be a big disadvantage when you, me, and Cockatoo boy over there, work together to attack sensei.", Sakura said with seriousness in her voice.

Sasuke was nodding in agreement, then stopped when he realized what she had just called him, and glared at her. She didn't seem to notice though.

"Here, I'll feed you", Sakura gave Naruto a true smile. Something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Are you sure Sakura-chan? You want me to have _your_ food?", Naruto whispered.

"Really, it's not a problem. Besides, Sasuke eats more than me and has already gotten his bastard germs all over his food, and I'm on a diet", Sakura held the food up to his face and smiled.

Sasuke just pretended he didn't hear that.

Naruto eyes welled up in joy " O-okay, Thank you!", he said and he opened his mouth, waiting for Sakura to feed him.

Sakura was silently counting down as she slowly put the food in his mouth.

_...3...2..1..._**POOF! (more like a BIG poof). **

The ground shook and clouds of dust filled the air. Kakashi appeared in front of Team 7.

Naruto looked horrified, Sakura looked up at her sensei in a bored manner, and Sasuke was being Sasuke.(cuz he's cool like that yo!)

Dark clouds suddenly began to fill the sky and block out the sun, making the area shadowy and murky and creepy.

"You Three!!! You Broke The Rules!!", Kakashi thundered. Sakura looked up at the sky.

_When the hell did those clouds get here? It was clear and sunny just a minute ago. hmmm...never really noticed that last time. And what's up with the cheap lightning sound effects???,_ thought Sakura, and looked around in panic to where the sounds came from.

"Hey how'd you do that?', Sakura asked. She knew it was not the right time but she really wanted to know.

"Huh? Oh, it's fairly simple, you see, you just make these hand signs", Kakashi said excitedly and showed her.

"Coooool"

"Oh yes, where were we...?", Kakashi said, making his scaring face again."Prepare For Your Punishment!". Gusts of wind flew in all directions.

"Any last words?", Kakashi prepared a hand sign.

"But...But...But...you Said...!", Naruto trembled, "That's why these two.."

"We're a three man team, right?", Sasuke looked at Kakashi and glanced at the other two.

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei, we three are one...", Sakura included monotonously.

Naruto wiggled in his tied up position and yelled, "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! Buhlieve It, THAT'S RIGHT!"

"You're One?!?! Is that your excuse?" Kakashi roared

all three heads nod confidently.

Kakashi stepped forward and stared at each and every one of them before saying, "you pass!". Kakashi's frown turned into a warm/cheery smile.

And like Team 7(except Sakura) was lookin' like-WHA?!?!?!... well only Naurto was. Sasuke's eyes just widened for a second and then turned calm again.

"WHAAA?!?!", Naruto confuzzled.

"You. Pass.", Kakashi repeated and stepped closer.

"W-Why?", asked Naruto.

"You guys are the first to pass. The previous teams only listened to what I said. Ninjas need to think beyond the normal. In the world---"

"In the world of ninjas, people who break the rules are called scum, but those who don't help their friends are worse than scum", Sakura broke him off. She smiled and closed her eyes. Hugging her knees, she began to reminice.

"..."

Sakura realized what she had just done and opened her eyes. "Umm...heh, heh", Sakura scratched the back of her head and faked an innocent smile.

"...that...was exactly what _I _was going to say", Kakashi looked at her in great shock, yet in great suspicion.

Sasuke and Naruto looked over at their teamate in confusion.

_'Who **is **this kid? If I am correct, the Fourth, Rin and **I **only knew Obito's motto.'_

_"_Umm...so we pass, right?", Sakura smiled, trying to change the subject.

"The training ends here", Kakashi nodded. "Team 7 will be starting missions tomorrow!", he said giving them a thumbs up.

Sasuke smiled to himself triumphantly(more like, inwardly to himself) and Naruto started tearing up."You know, he's... pretty...cool", he said, blinking back tears of joy.

Sakura grinned._ that was a close one!_ '**_Be more careful this time!'-Inner Sakura scolded._**

Naruto was tring to dance, yelling, "I did it! I'm a ninja! ninja! ninja!"

"Let's go home", Kakashi suggested, and began walking.

Sasuke and Sakura obediantly followed. Kakasi glanced at Sakura. _She's...hiding something. I could feel it._

_(Sakura's P.O.V.)_

_Okay! One step closer to the real mission! _

**_'Cha! don't you dare do anything stupid! You know you can mess up the very fabric of time!' ,Inner Sakura warned._**

_Gaahh! I know, I know! Stop nagging me, sheesh!_

_(end p.o.v.)_

And with that, they walked towards the sunset.

Meanwhile, Naruto was still left tied to the post. "I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO END LIKE THIS!!!! I'M STILL HERE! GrRrRrRrRr...UNTIE ME NOW!", he yelled to the others.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

yay! i wanted to end this bell test thingy fast. oh and dont worry guys! im not wasting 8 or 9 chapters on that Zabuza/Haku crap. I'll give you a short summary about it later...

Oh and hey! do u think this reenactment thingy is a good idea? cuz now im not sure. I think I'll put some of my own stuff in it moree too.

Next up! the chuninn exams! i dunno if i spelled that correctly...chuunin? ah, I'll look it up later. buhbye


	9. CH9

**Howdy! Umm… oh yeah, I skipped the episodes when Team 7 escorts the bridge builder, Tazuna, and they go to the hidden Mist village or something, and they meet Zabuza Monomochi (idk if I spelled it rite) and Haku. Yea…too lazy to write up 5 chapters on that crap. And If I do, it will kinda waste ur time cuz it really has nothing to do with Sakura's mission. So here's the summary:**

Team 7 escort Tazuna, and Sakura told her self to make this mission as the same as it was before. Because if she tries to fight, something might happen. You, know, like Tazuna would have gotten killed because she wouldn't be at his side if she chose to help. Or, someone else could've died! So she stayed in the background and let Naruto and Sasuke have their glory(for now…). She tried not to show anymore of her real strength. She even pretended to cry on Sasuke when he was unconscious. Kakashi was sorta confused because she didn't try to join in on the fight. He could've sworn that he saw someone healing him when he passed out(from his sharingan). Sakura helped out a little, by the way. Yeah...

**OK HAPPY? Good. On with the story!**

**6:00 A.M.**

Sakura got up from bed and got dressed into her ninja outfit after she took a bath. She looked at herself in the mirror and met her younger looking self in the reflection. She sighed. _Sometimes I wake up thinking this is all a dream…_

'_**You had weird taste back then…'-her Inner blurted out.**_

She looked down at her clothes and shrugged.

'_Who the hell cares???'_

'_**I was just pointing it out!'-Inner Sakura said in defense." I mean, a pink dress over these green shorts? Ick.**_

Sakura sighed. She quickly combed her hair, then grabbed her ninja gear, and headed out the door.

* * *

Sasuke was the first to arrive at the bridge; their usual meeting spot. His back was leaned against the rails and was staring into space.

He snapped out of it when he noticed a blob of pink out of the corner of his eye.

Sakura was walking towards him and appeared to be in deep thought because she didn't seem to notice him.

When she finally stepped onto the bridge she looked up and just realized where she was. She found Sasuke standing there and she gave a small wave, showing no emotions whatsoever.

"Ohayo, Sasuke", she muttered and went over to the opposite side of the boy, which was right in front of him. She too, leaned her back on the rail and crossed her arms.

She closed her eyes and started to think again.

_'How can I pull this mission off anyway? I have no plan! I got no strategy! I sure wish I were Shikamaru right now... '**He's dead, isn't he?', Inner Sakura asked.** Shut up, I'm thinking. **'For once…' –**_**the Inner muttered.**

'_And another thing! Orichimaru is a sannin for Kami's sake! How am I supposed to prevent him from Sasuke??? Isn't he immortal or something?'_

'**_But you were TRAINED by a sannin! Who would know him better than that Tsunade-sama herself!' _Inner Sakura comforted her cheerfully.**

_That's different!!! Awww Geeez… I need help! Pronto!_

'**_And how are you gonna do that?', _Inner her asked.**

Sakura slouched. _I have no clue._

Sakura groaned in frustration, rather loudly.

She opened her eyes and found Sasuke with his eyebrow raised in question.

"Is there a problem?", Sakura snapped.

"That's the same exact question I was going to ask _you_", his eyes narrowed.

"Huh? Oh that's nothing! I'm just tired is all", Sakura raised her hands in defense and smiled meekly.

"Hn", he lost interest and closed his eyes.

Sakura dropped her shoulders.

"Clueless", she muttered under her breath.

A Few Seconds Later…. 

_GAAAHHHH!!!! I'm so boooooooored! Kakashi is an hour late!!! _

'_**You know why…'-**_**Inner Sakura.**

Sakura grimaced._ Yeah…but still. How many hours can you stand in front of that rock?! '**You know how it feels. Give the man a break. Besides…use this time and try being nicer to Sasuke-kun. He's going to need you later on…' **_

_No way! Not with that piece of shit._ Sakura scrunched up her nose in disgust. '**_Now how are you going to complete the mission with this attitude of yours! The mission IS to protect HIM.' _**Sakura growled inwardly. Sakura's Inner smirked, **_'And deep down, you still love him. You're just too stubborn and bitchy to admit it.' _**

'_And who da fuck told you this bullshit!'_

_**Um, Duh. I'm you stooooopid. I know you're just trying to hide you're emotions to look tough, but deep, deeeeep, deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep down? You're just a weak, lonesome, frightened, broken little soul—'**_

'_Who the fuck's side are you on!!!!'_

'_**No need for harsh words, Sakura. I'm just stating the facts…'**_

'_Just get the hell out of my head! You're making me insane!'_

'_**Very well. You're gonna need me later on. I know it…' Inner Sakura's voice faded. **_

_You know what? Fine. Fine! I'll talk to him!!! Happy???_

No Answer.

_Tch. I don't need you! Don't even bother coming back! You'll see! You're gonna regret your sorry ass you ever left me!_

Silence.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Uh, Sasuke-k-kun?", her eye twitched.

**

* * *

Hmmm…WHAT IS SHE GONNA SAY? WHERE DID HER INNER RUN OFF TO? WHERE'S NARUTO? HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO THE TOOTSIE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE POP????**

**The world may never know!!!!!!**

**Hahaha…I'll update Friday or sumthin, I promise. -**


	10. CH10

**(AN): Hmmm... it seems to me I got more reviews about the whole tootsie pop question thing than the story itself. yeah...**

**Thanks to our little friend here, Amei-chan, who said it took 747 licks, we all finally know. whoo hooray...yeahhh.**

**Ang Nakaraan**...(haha i've always wanted to say that. And If you're not filipino then, well...yeah. I don't even know if I spelled it rite but who cares! )-

* * *

'_Just get the hell out of my head! You're making me insane!'_

'_Very well. You're gonna need me later on. I know it…' Inner Sakura's voice faded. _

_You know what? Fine. Fine! I'll talk to him!!! Happy???_

No Answer.

_Tch. I don't need you! Don't even bother coming back! You'll see! You're gonna regret your sorry ass you ever left me!_

Silence.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Uh, Sasuke-k-kun?", her eye twitched.

**

* * *

**

Sasuke looked up at her, showing she got his attention.

"Uh...",Sakura's eye twitched uncontrollably._ Man, how can it be so difficult to have a casual conversation with this kid?_

"Nice pants!", Sakura said cheerfully _twitch._

Sasuke tilted his head and gave her a questioning look.

Sakura smacked the top of her wide forehead._ Nice Pants? Damn I'm such a loser._

"Good morning Sakura-chan!", came a familiar voice.

Sakura gave a sigh of relief. _Talk about good timing..._

Our favorite ramen boy is seen panting and sweating as he arrives the bridge.

"Teme.", Naruto narrowed his eyes at the raven-haired boy.

"Dobe", Sasuke narrowed them right back.

"Bakas", Sakura murmured under her breath._ Ever since the mission to the Wave Country, they've been acting more competitive. Wait, that's good right? Isn't that what supposed to happen? hmmm...cooooooooooooooooooooool._Sakura smirked

Naruto waved a hand in front of Sakura's face. "Sakura, you've been acting weird ever since we started this team. What's goin' on?". There was worry in his face.

"Dobe's right, for once", Sasuke muttered.

"I heard that Sasuke-teme!", Naruto raised a fist.

"My life is none of your concern. The both of you.", Sakura turned a round and stared at the water below.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, then at Sakura.

_'haha. That'll shut them up.'_

Everything was quiet for a few minutes until Kakashi-sensei appeared.

"You're Late!", Naruto and Sakura said.

"Well you see, an old woman--"

"Save it Kakashi-sensei, what's the mission?", Sakura started walking towards him, who was perched on top of a pole .

Kakashi gave a small chuckle and jumped down. "Well _someone's_ a little eager today"

Sakura smirked slightly._ I have to do this mission quickly. The chuunin selection exams are a week from now. _

"HEY, HEY Kakashi-sensei! Isn't there a mission where I can play an active role, and something more...exciting?!", Naruto said anxiously with fire in his eyes.

"Oh, I see what you're getting at", Kakashi grinned. Naruto turned his head to Sasuke, who wasn't really paying attention.

Sakura looked at Naruto in annoyance.

"Your chor-- er, missions, is to help an old lady pull out the weeds in her yard, clean the river, and walk the dogs."

"Great let's go so you can go to-- I mean--"

"So I can go where, Sakura?", Kakashi asked.

Sakura slapped herself mentally. _'Damn I gotta stop doing that!'_

"So you can go to... that place you wanted to go! I mean, _everybody_ has somewhere to go", Sakura scratched the back of her head nervously._ No, I'm a BIG loser._

Kakashi nodded slowly, yet unsurely.

So the team went off to do whatever they needed to do.

* * *

Hours Later... 

Team 7 were just about going their seperate ways sfter they completed their missions.

Naruto has had a rough day. He has been beaten up by the herb lady, rescued by Sasuke(again), and almost blown up by all the mines in the Trap Field.

"You always have to be the rescued one, Naruto", Sasuke teased and started walking away.

"Sasuke!", Naruto was ready to attack, but Sakura stopped him with her hand.

"Drop it Naruto", Sakura said. She was really getting annoyed.

Kakashi sighed. "Guess we're not making a lot of progress on the teamwork thing, huh?"

"That's right! Our teamwork's all messed up and it's all because of you, Sasuke! You think you're better than everyone else!",Naruto yelled after the boy.

Sasuke stopped. "Not everyone. Just you. Face it: I'm better and stronger than you. It's a fact...unless you have what it takes to prove me wrong", Sasuke turned his head and glared.

Kakashi looked up at the sky and saw the signal (which was a bird flying around in circles). "Well, I guess we're done for today, I have to write up a mission report for today"

"Then I'm going home", Sasuke turned around and left.

"Fine!", Naruto yelled."Hey Sakura! Do you want to train togeth--", Naruto turned around and saw Kakashi, but no Sakura.

Kakashi looked up from his book, and wondered what Naruto was lookin for. He turned to look as well. _Sakura left? I didn't even notice her leaving..._

"Well, I guess I'm leaving too!", Kakashi announced and poofed away.

Naruto started heading home too, then turned around. "Okay, what's up with this square rock?"

* * *

Sakura walked into the forest where she can train alone. She hoped she was strong enough for the mission.

* * *

The next day... 

Team 7 was waiting on the bridge again. Minutes later, Kakashi appeared in front of the the three.

"I have recommended you three for the upcoming chuunin exams.", Kakashi said cheerfully.

"I love you Kakashi-sensei!", Naruto jumped up and gave him a hug.

"Woah, let go of me Naruto!", Kakashi lightly pushed him off.

"Here are your applications", Kakashi handed out the papers. "You will be taking the written exam in room 301".

And with that, Team 7 went their seperate ways.

* * *

Meanwhile... 

There was a poof and Iruka appeared. He stepped forward and cleared his throat. Kakashi looked up from his book.

"I have a favor to ask of you"

"And what will that be?"

"Test my team's skills and capability to see if they're worthy of this exam"

"Hai.", Iruka nooded and made a transformation jutsu that disguised him as a masked ninja from the Mist Village.

He was about to turn away.

"But leave Sakura to me. I am very interested in _this_ one", Kakashi added.

Iruka nodded once more and jumped off the roof.

**(A.N: Okay, Iruka, disguised as a foreign nin, kidnaps Moegi like before, and Naruto saves her. blah, blah, blah. Too lazy to write it. Oh yeah, Iruka fights with Sasuke and gets beaten up, so yeahh...)**

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6:00 P.M.

Sakura was on her way home, but she had to cross the empty training grounds to get there.

Suddenly, she heard a kunai whiz past her, which landed on the ground a few inches from her feet.

_'Okay, what's goin on?' _she thought.

Sakura grew alarmed when she sensed some chakra in a tree to her right.

"I know you're in that tree! Show yourself, whoever you are!", Sakura was a little frightened, but did not dare to show it.

She flung her kunai at the tree, which activated a hidden trap, and dozens of shuriken lauched out of the tree.

She jumped in the air and focused her chakra at her feet. Then kicked the tree with full force. The tree splitted in half, and an unidentified ninja jumped out in front of Sakura. Sakura studied the ninja closely.

_This chakra...is somewhat familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it._

She lunged at him with a kunai, but the stranger disappeared and reappeared right behind the kunoichi. Sakura flinched. He was close enough to be finally recognized by Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei, what is the meaning of this?", Sakura turned around and looked up at the man with confused eyes.

* * *

Aww man...what's he gonna do? I'll update as soon as I can everybodies.****


	11. CH11

**Uh, sorry guys. I kept procrastinating and stuff. I was too busy working on my other fic "In 7 days". Well here you go. I'll try to make it long just to make it up to you. And u better review. **

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_This chakra...is somewhat familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it._

She lunged at him with a kunai, but the stranger disappeared and reappeared right behind the kunoichi. Sakura flinched. He was close enough to be finally recognized by Sakura.

"Kakashi-sensei, what is the meaning of this?", Sakura turned around and looked up at the man with confused eyes.

The ninja raised his eyebrow and undid his henge. He poofed back to his old self.

"You can already recognize the person by their signature of chakra…interesting", Kakashi said.

"Damn straight! Now tell me what the hell's goin' on", Sakura fumed.

"I just wanted to see if you are ready for the exam…and besides, you stand out more than anyone else in this team"

"Oh?", Sakura smirked. "Tell me the _real _reason why. Now."

Kakashi flinched, then calmed down. "I have observed you for these past few months. What surprised me was that you didn't bother to fight, back in the Wave country. However, you were as determined as ever in that bell test."

"Yeah? Maybe I didn't really feel like showing my skills that time", Sakura said and threw a punch at him.

"What I'm trying to say is…you're hiding something Sakura", Kakashi said as he easily dodged her blow.

Sakura froze.

"I saw you healing me Sakura. I didn't know you had healing abilities"

Sakura stayed silent.

"And your fighting skills are way past genin... Maybe even chuunin"

"SO WHAT!?" Sakura said. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, I'm really that strong?"

Kakashi stared at her. "That's not it"

"Your skill matches the strength of a certain legendary sannin by the name of-"

"Ts-Tsunade-sama? Oh I get that a lot! Coincidence, no? I haven't even met her in my life!", Sakura laughed nervously. '_Shit. Inner ME! Where are you! I need some help!'_

Kakashi looked into her eyes.

"What?", Sakura looked away blushing.

"Okay, if that's how you're gonna be…I'll just have to FORCE it out of you", Kakashi made his fighting stance.

"Chyeaa, but I won't make this easy", Sakura did the same.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"You haven't seen my REAL strength, yet", Sakura explained.

"Oh really? Lemme see what you got", Kakashi slid his forehead protector up and revealed his sharingan eye.

Sakura smirked. " Here, watch closely my pupil", she said as she made green chakra glow at her fingertips.

Kakashi's eyes widened. _'she must be trying to pull the same thing she has tried to do before…only, this feels stronger. Maybe tenfold!!!'_

She swung a fist full of chakra at her sensei at his shoulder, but he dodged by a few millimeters.

Kakashi felt his arm go numb and his eyes widened.

"This is…"

Sakura came up behind him and hit his pressure points.

Kakashi fell with shock. "Medical ninjutsu…"

"Can't move your arms huh? I blocked all chakra flow to your arms so you are unable to do any jutsus" Sakura smirked.

Suddenly the cold feeling of metal touched her neck.

"Very impressive Sakura, but not good enough"

Sakura gasped as the Kakashi bunshin in front of her poofed.

"Bunshin? I didn't even…"

"Okay you had your fun, tell me what's goin on", Kakashi twirled his kunai around and stuck it back in his holster.

"I'm not done yet!", Sakura punched him in the stomach.

Kakashi fell back. "Sakura, I really don't wanna use my real strength."

Sakura ignored him and made two bunshins. They lunged at him, but Kakashi grabbed their wrists and spun them around before sending them into the air.

Sakura panted heavily. She was running out of chakra fast. ' _Dammit, I should have known. He planned this all along' **DUH! Even I saw that!', -Inner Sakura. **You're back! **'I was never really gone. I just sat back and watched the show'** ok, Any advice? **'nope! I'm still mad at you' **'arrrg'._

"Okay! I'll tell you", Sakura bursted out.

Kakashi folded his arms and grinned.

* * *

umm...ok. it wasn't that long but I thought this could be a good cliffie. DEAL WITH IT!

I'll update in a few days. I swear to u. I will!


	12. ch12

**See! I told you I'd update soon. I think this is my favorite chapter.**

---

"Okay! I'll tell you", Sakura bursted out.

Kakashi grinned.

---

"I'll tell you. Two words, Kakashi: Kage, Bunshin.", She smirked.

Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, then muttered, "Oh crap".

Suddenly two hands shot out of the soil and pulled him down, just leaving his head out of the ground to breathe. Another Sakura burst out of the earth and landed right in front of Kakashi. She took out her kunai and pointed it at him.

"I got you going there didn't I? Heh, come on Kakashi, I'm not that dense.", Sakura grinned. Kakashi slowly turned his head to the Sakura bunshin as it poofed away. "I knew you did a kage bunshin jutsu in the beginning, so I made one too." Sakura continued. She then looked at Kakashi this time and her eyes widened. "You're…"

"Yes, Sakura, that was very smart to use that jutsu on me, but I was one step ahead of you as well.", a voice came behind her. She felt the sharp point of the kunai touch her back. The Kakashi in the ground disappeared.

"Oh really?", a voice came behind _him_, holding a kunai to his throat. The Sakura who was just in front of him disappeared as well. The real Sakura was behind him.

"Yes really", The real Kakashi replied behind _her._ Sakura turned around. "What the hell are we doing?", she asked.

Kakashi only shrugged.

"Well, I'm still not telling you anything", Sakura folded her arms and stuck her tongue out like a 5 year old.

"S-Sakura? Are you there? Can you hear me", came a feminine voice.

Sakura looked around. _Funny, I didn't sense anybody._

Kakashi looked at her chest. "Uh, Sakura, not trying to be perverted or anything, but the sounds are coming from there." He pointed.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him for a while then down at her chest.

"Sakura, honey? You there?", came the voice again.

"uhhh…"

"Sakura! Oh thank heavens! It's me, Tsunade! It took weeks for me to get ahold of you. I forgot to tell you that I could contact you through the necklace! So how's the time traveling thing coming along? Did it work? Oh, I'm so silly, of course it worked, cuz then I wouldn't be able to talk to you. You're body's doing fine too! We didn't bury it though. I got it preserved. We miss you over here! Say hi Ino!" there was a different voice this time. "Hey girl! Are you okay! How's the past! Did you see me? Did ya? Did ya? Do I look gooooooood-----"

Sakura turned around from Kakashi who was like- Oo … and tried to cover the necklace with her hands. But it didn't really work. She could still hear the muffled blabbering of her friend Ino.

She heard the two fighting over Tsunade's necklace **(her grandfather's necklace. The one Naruto won in the bet. Yeah, she took it back cuz Naruto is dead and stuff) **"YOU HAD YOU'RE TIME! IT'S MY TURN!", she heard Tsunade yell. "Um, Sakura? Why aren't you answering? Did we call at a bad time? Oh no! is someone there? Hmm… or maybe this jutsu's wearing off…"

"I COULD HEAR YOU FINE! YES YOU CALLED AT AN EXTREMELY BAD TIME, NOW GO AWAY!" Sakura yelled back at her necklace. She heard a sniff. "okay, I see you don't need us anymore 'sniff'". Then there was silence. Sakura slowly turned to Kakashi again, who's jaw (like literally) dropped to the floor.

"Uhhhh…that, was my grandma?" Sakura smiled meekly.

"…"

"Okay, so I guess now you know", Sakura sighed in defeat.

"I must be dreaming or something…", Kakashi said as he put his hands on his head like he was going nuts.

"No! I'm serious! I'm actually sixteen years old! I just ended up in my twelve year old body." Sakura insisted.

"So why are you here then?", Kakashi said skeptically.

"You have to promise not to tell, or I swear to Kami, I WILL NOT HESITATE KILL YOU.", Sakura said darkly.

Kakashi looked as if he was thinking it over, then finally nodded.

"Okay, I was sent here on a mission by Tsunade-sama, from the future"

"Haven't met her in your life huh?" Kakashi smirked.

"haha, you're so funny. Anyways, I have to stop-" Sakura looked around suspiciously and whispered, "Orichimaru from giving Sasuke the curse seal".

Kakashi flinched. "I haven't seen that guy in years"

"Yes well, I can't tell you everything, but Sasuke leaves the village and goes to Orichimaru to train with him, so he could get his revenge on Itachi, who by the way comes to Konoha to get Naruto, which made Sasuke even more in need for power."

"_Uchiha_, Itachi? _The anbu-leader-at-13-killed-his-clan-except Sasuke-S-class missing-nin-prodigy_ Uchiha, Itachi?_",_ Kakashi asked.

"…sure", she shrugged.

"Well, how are you gonna stop Orichimaru?" he asked.

"So you believe me then?", Sakura asked hopefully.

"I don't know _what_ to believe." Kakashi looked at the sky. It was getting very late. " But I'll try. We'll see." Sakura smiled.

"So what's the plan?", he asked again.

"That…I do not know. And now that _you_ are in on this, maybe you can help?", she asked timidly.

"I'll do anything to help you on your mission, miss Haruno", Kakashi smiled.

"Oh thank you!", Sakura gave him a warm embrace. Kakashi just patted her on the head. Suddenly he felt her head shaking. He looked down to find the kunoichi crying steadily in his arms.

"I'm sorry" Sakura got off and wiped her eyes. "It's just that I felt so lonely for the past few weeks. I always had to play the part, and look at their faces as if nothing happened."

"What do you mean?"

"It's Sasuke and Naruto. A lot has happened in the future…too many bad memories."

"Oh", Kakashi looked at her in concern. "Well I'm terribly sorry--"

"THAT BASTARD!!! HE FUCKIN LEFT ME FOR A FREAKY SNAKE HOMO!! I FUCKIN' HATE HIM! HE DIDN'T EVEN CARE FOR MY FEELINGS! HE'S SUCH A CONCEITED, ARROGANT, EMO BASTARD WITH A FUCKIN' STICK UP HIS FUCKIN' ASS!!! AND HIS FUCKED UP AMBITIONS! DON'T GET ME STARTED! OOOH LOOK AT ME I'M SASUKE! I'M SOOO COOOL WITH MY COOL HAIR AND MY COOL PANTS! I'M AN AVENGER, OOOOOOOOH---"

Kakashi clamped a hand over her mouth. "Sakura! Get a hold of yourself. Now when I let go, you are gonna talk like a civilized kunoichi, okay?", he talked to her as if he was talking to a toddler.

Sakura nodded and he let go. "I can't believe I ever fell for him", she sighed. "After all the things we've done for him… he betrayed us all. I felt like my heart was ripped out."

Then Kakashi remembered,

_**Whoo! A Flashback---**_

_"Things I hate? Well, I especially hate people who think they're so superior that they treat others like dirt." Sakura tried to blink back tears in her eyes. "People who would betray their friends, play around with their feelings." Her voice cracked. "Getting all worked up on their ambitions, never realizing the people who care about them the most…"_

_**aww man. End Flashback---**_

'_Woah, this girl has been through a lot.' _Kakashi thought.

"I know how you feel, sensei, to lose two of you're best friends" Sakura said softly. _'I shouldn't tell him about Naruto's death. It might cause something bad…' _

Kakashi was silent for a while. "I think you should be heading home to get some shut-eye, tomorrow's the written part of the exams"

"And we'll plan something tomorrow", Sakura nodded and waved goodbye.

--------

Sakura crossed the training grounds once again and found Sasuke Uchiha practicing his aim. She looked around and saw dozens of kunais and shuriken all over the place.

"Training?" Sakura asked.

"Hn", came his reply.

"Okay, see ya tomorrow then", Sakura said quietly.

"Wait.", Sasuke said

Sakura turned around. "Hmm?"

"What were you and Kakashi doing over there?", he asked suspiciously.

"What did you see? Let alone _hear_?" she asked.

"I didn't _hear _anythingSakuraI just saw you two hugging. What was that all about?"

she sighed in relief. "That's nothing. It's none of your business anyway" she said quickly and turned around.

Sasuke disappeared, then reappeared in front of her. Might I add, dangerously close to her. "What do you have against me Haruno?" he asked (which sounded more like a statement).

"W-what?" Sakura stuttered. This question caught her off guard.

"What did I do to make you like this?", he asked.

Sakura's bangs fell over her eyes as she looked down. "You have no idea…", she whispered.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Sakura looked at him with watery eyes. "goodbye", she said.

Sakura made some handsigns and poofed away, leaving Sasuke in his thoughts.

**

* * *

Oooh, this is getting yummy. Hohum, its almost time for the preliminary exams! I can't wait .And if u be a good little reviewer, I'll update sooner!!! yay!**


	13. ch13

**I'm BAAAAAAACK! I didn't feel like updating fer some time, guys. So I'm sorry. And my dad's finally out of the house. yay! Im not rlly allowed to go on Fanfiction. But I go anyway. See what I do fer love?**

**Oh yeah I got some reviews and I'm gonna set some things straight.**

**1) dude. Haku is Dead. He was ****then**** and he still is ****now****. That's how it's supposed to be. Not fair? Deal wit it. I mean was it fair when Bambi's mother died? Was it fair that the silly rabbit will never EVER get his Trix cereal? (which tastes nasty btw), was it fair that Kishimoto owns Naruto and I don't? Think about that.**

**2) No really, Sasuke****didn't ****hear Sakura and Kakashi talking. He just happened to walk by and caught them hugging.**

**3) im sorry, Kakashi and Sakura can't have a relationship cuz it will mess up the story. Don't get me wrong! I'm a big Kakaxsaku fan! Just not in this story.**

**4) Nina (**WhatsALie)** eats babies, just to let u know. O yea and I recommend her cuz she recommended me. And she has good stories…I guess. JKJK nina :P hers are da cooliest**

**ON WITH THE STORY: chapter…14?(am I rite?) ****The Written Exams!**

It was a bright clear morning and all that crap. Naruto, Sasuke, and a bunch of unimportant people were standing outside of the Academy. The two boys were waiting impaciently for Sakura's arrival.

"Hey where's Sakura-chan?", Naruto asked Sasuke.

"I don't know, dobe", was his reply with a hint of annoyance.

"Oh okay."

---10 seconds later---

"HEY! I'm not a dobe. 'tebayo!" Naruto yelled making a fist.

Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Over here!", the blonde boy waved to the approaching Haruno. She smiled and came over.

Sasuke looked at her. "So why are you so late? It's not like you."

"Sorryyy Motherr", Sakura rolled her eyes. "But If you must know, I was at Ichiraku's with sensei, having some breakfast."

Sasuke's eye twitched.

"Aww man! I could've went with you guys! That way, you can pay for me!" Naruto moaned.

"Sorry Naruto", Sakura sighed. "Me and sensei had some…business to take care of"

"Business?", Naruto and Sasuke asked curiously.

Sakura looked at their faces and laughed, " Come on let's get inside and take the test. I'm psyched!"

She quickly walked inside biting her nails. Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other, shrugged, and followed their teammate inside.

------------------------Inside! (no duh)---------------------------------

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto walked towards the unruly crowd of ninjas outside a door. Sakura turned her head and noticed the familiar green spandex in front of the crowd. It was Lee! Surprise-surprise. She followed Sasuke now as he walked up to two teenagers who were blocking the doorway.

" Ok that's enough. And undo this genjutsu field. We're going to the _third_ floor." He said.

The crowd aroused in confusion. Sakura looked at him and smirked. _'Show-off'_

"Oh, you noticed?", one of the bullies answered.

"Sakura, you should've been the first to see it, your analyzation skills and your genjutsu know-how are the best in the squad." He said over his shoulder.

"Damn right it is…", Sakura muttered with a peeved face. Sakura turned his body around and looked at her.

"I mean yes! Thanks for noticing Sasuke-kun! We are actually in the SECOND floor, guys" , she announced and dispelled the genjutsu. The sign on the door that said **301 **changed into **201.**

The bully with the weird nose, frowned and looked at Sasuke. "You're pretty good, but just being able to detect it isn't enough…" he was about to swing his foot at him until…

"AHEM! I detected it first." Sakura pouted. "Why do you choose to hit _him_?".

Sasuke and the bully sweatdropped.

"Well--"

"And another thing! You're not real kids! You're actually those two examiners! One with the bandaged nose and the other one with the weird cap, who are always together like some homosexual couple!", Sakura smirked and folded her arms to her chest.

Silence. All eyes were on Sakura. The two boys who were blocking the door looked at each other and then at Sakura. They made a handsign and poofed back to their original homo selves.

"Okay, maybe they're not _pretty _good, they're _really _good.", the one with the weird nose muttered in his partners ear. "Yeah, she even knew about us being an 'item' ", he whispered back.

The two looked at her and said, "You're good, kid. We respect that. Just be careful in the chuunin exams, I hear it's gonna be rough." The guy with the cap said to Sakura.

She nodded and the two guys poofed away.

Sakura turned around and found her teammates still looking at her. "What?"

"You were awesome!", Naruto cried and gave her two thumbs up.

"Yeah, I didn't even know they were using a henge jutsu." Sasuke said in a low voice.

Seconds later, Lee was pushing passed the crowd and made his way to Sakura. "You are Sakura-san right?"

'**Oh no! not again!-Inner Sakura**.'

"Yes, I think so…", Sakura said trying to look away from his horrible thick eyebrows.

"Hahaha! I love a sense of humor in a girl. My name's Rock Lee." He grinned.

Sakura nodded a couple of times, showing she was listening.

"Please, Sakura, be my girlfriend! I shall protect you with all my life!" he said and posed the 'Nice guy pose'.

"No." Sakura sweatdropped at his cheesy proclamation. **(I hate deja-vu, don't u?)**

Lee's face fell, "W-why not?"

"…because it would be better if we were friends instead. Trust me.", she said nicely. (the idea still freaked her out)

Lee's eyes once again lit up, "Okay! Maybe it will bloom into something, maybe more than just friendship, yes?"

"…sure, Lee…maybe".

"And maybe one kiss will--"

"Goodbye Lee." Sakura cut him off mid-sentence and motioned for her other teammates to follow.

"Hey you, over here", came a voice. Sakura turned around and was surprised to see none other than Neji Hyuuga, walking towards her, followed by TenTen.

Sakura looked behind her, then over at Sasuke, then over at Naruto.

"_Me_?", She asked, pointing to herself.

Neji nodded.

**--------Sakura's mind-----**

'**Hyuuga? That guy Never talks to us! Not even in the present. What a dweeb**_**.'-**_**Inner Sakura. **_'yeah wonder why he wants to chat NOW' _**'hmmm. Maybe if it wasn't for YOU showing off, he wouldn't have drawn some of his attention to you!' **_'Shh, I think he's talking now'_

---------end---------

"Yes you, what's your name?" he demanded.

"Who wants to know?", she narrowed her eyes and teased. Her hands on her hips.

Neji blinked. TenTen giggled behind him.

"Look, Neji, you should really feel more threatened by Uchiha over there, not me." She said as she raised her hands up defensively. "I mean, he's the real deal happy-meal", Sakura pointed at the boy in the corner, who was, by the way, waiting impatiently for Sakura.

"Hn…wait a second, I didn't give you my name , yet you already knew.", Neji said.

Sakura looked around suspiciously, "…Or did I?"

Neji and TenTen sweatdropped. "you did", they said simultaneously.

"Woah, you said that all at the same time! Niceeee!", she nodded stupidly, trying to change the subject.

"Sakura, we're heading upstairs now" , Sasuke called.

Sakura made the peace sign and quickly scurried off to join her friends.

"We gotta keep an eye on her", Neji said, staring at the retreating figure.

"Yeah…um why Neji?", she asked.

"Because. She feels so different…and strong. I don't like it."

* * *

tell me what u think about it. oh and I wanted to mention all my reviewers up there...but that would take a while so I was like- ah screw this. so sorry. I'm very lazy. I should even be doing my homework right now... AW CRAP! cheerios dudes!

(see nina i told u Im gonna say that)

lalalala catscratch!


	14. ch14

-Italics- characters are thinking -Bold- my stupid comments

**_-Bold Italics-_** the character's Inner-selves. OR when there is a different change of scene.

-Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo- Right After the Written Exams…

After the written exams, which by the way turned out exactly as planned, Team 7 walk along the road, side by side. They have just come out from the academy, and are on their way home. While Naruto was rambling about different ramen flavors, Sasuke and Sakura were lost in there own little, deranged worlds.

**_Inside Sasuke's Mind:_**_ 'when I kill that asswipe, Itachi-teme, I shall rebuild my clan. But whooo shall rebuild my clan with me?_

'**_Hinata?'_**_ 'who's that'_

'**Temari**?' 'uhh…come again?' '**Ino**' 'No! Not that fangirl slut!'

'**_Karin' _**_'…where are you getting these names?'_

'**Oops_ you don't know her yet'_**

'**_Naruto' _**_'ha…jokes…'_

'**_Sakuraaa…' _**_'W-What? PSHH. PSHHH. NO WAY! NO! She's a TEAMMATE!_

'**_well, that's fine She has no ass anyways…' _**_'WHAT! WELL ACTUALLY-'_

"Sasuke, stop thinking about sex, you whore", Sakura mutters loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

:[

**JK GUYS. JK**

Sasuke and Sakura were too deep in thought to hear Naruto's ridiculous blabbering.

Suddenly, a poof of smoke obstructs the teams path, and in comes Kakashi-sensei, half scaring the

daylights out of Naruto.

"Yo", Kakashi greeted monotonously, his eyes glued to his book.

"Kakashi-sensei! Quit showing off and greet us like a normal person!" Naruto yelled, exasperated.

"What do you want, Kakashi?"Sasuke now spoke.

"…What? Can't a sensei say hello to his most cherished pupils?", Kakashi looked up from his book and snapped it shut. "I just need to borrow Sakura for a minute"

"Hai". She nodded and turned to the Naruto and Sasuke. "Do you guys mind?"

"Nah, I'm going home anyways.", Sasuke looked away. "Right, Naruto?"

"But I wanna stay! There's nothing to do", Naruto said in a whiny, high-pitched voice. Sasuke rolled his eyes and dragged Naruto away by the collar.

Sakura turned around to face Kakashi once again.

" Passed the exam?", he asked.

"Of course", she replied indignantly. Earning her a light laugh from her sensei.

"And did you try contacting her? Tsunade, I mean…", his voice lowered.

She sighed, pushing a few stray locks away from her face. "No, unfortunately my chakra reserves are barely enough to get through to the different timeline. That's why I need your help. We'll just have to meet somewhere…somewhere where _those_ two bakas won't be hangin' around.", Sakura and Kakashi glanced towards Sasuke and Naruto, who were already almost out of sight.

_Back to Uchiha and Uzumaki _

Sasuke let go of Naruto's collar and shoved him into a nearby bush.

"AHHHH! Teme? What the-"

"Shut up, dobe", Sasuke replied as he peered out of the bush.

"Oh no you didn't!", Naruto snapped his fingers in a 'Z' formation.

"Look, don't you wanna hear what those two are saying, or not?"

"B-but Sasuke, that's eavesdropping….. they obviously didn't want us there to hear what they say or….oh I got ya.", Naruto finally poked his head out of the bush as well.

A few seconds later….

"Kuso… we're too far away from hearing range." Sasuke said as he leaned away.

"Aww man…"

"Wait…I got an idea. I'll use the sharingan to read their lips", Sasuke sat up and went back to his position.

"Good thinking Sasuke! Now that you can read they're lips, you can find out what they're suspiciously talking about!", Naruto made that nice guy pose.

"That's the plan, dobe", Sasuke focused his sharingan on Sakura's face.

:D

"Now shut up, she's starting to talk", Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the girl's lips.

**_AND THIS IS WHAT SASUKE READ:_**

**Sakura**- 'So where are we gonna do it?'

Kakashi talks… (mask covered face.)

**Sakura**- 'Yeah, the forest will do…it's the perfect place...kinda nervous. But I'm glad it's you'

Kakashi talks…

**Sakura**- 'I know I'm ready, sensei. Believe me, I've been practicing all night…'

Kakashi talks…

**Sakura**- 'Hmm, maybe it'll take about half an hour, at least.'

Kakashi talks…

**Sakura**- 'Well, the forest must be somewhere where NO ONE CAN HEAR US. Or else they will be hearing a lot of loud wild screaming…"

**-_SASUKE TURNS OFF HIS SHARINGAN AT THIS MOMENT_—**

That was enough. Sasuke turned and faced Naruto, paused to gaze at Naruto with what looks to be a dazed expression, and stalked away.

Confused at the sudden movement, Naruto leaped up and gawked at his teammate.

"Wait! Teme! What did they…", he called after the retreating figure.

Uchiha halted to a full stop and turned his neck to the side, allowing himself to see Naruto from the corner of his eye.

"It's nothing…go home, Uzumaki", Sasuke said and disappeared, leaving a very flabbergasted Naruto behind.

**-_MEANWHILE…._-**

"Are they gone?", Kakashi giggled girlishly.

"Yeah", Sakura smirked. "Serves him right for poking his nose in our business."

"Now what were you saying awhile ago?"

" There will be a lot of wild screaming, from Tsunade-sama when she finds out you're involved in this mission.", Sakura finished. "So be prepared"

"…oh wonderful"

** Oh and Sasuke couldn't read what Kakashi is saying because he has a mask over his lips…**

:]


	15. ch15

**-YAY! Those god-damned tests are FINALLY over!!!!** **I know I failed t**h**e science regents exam, but oh well. I'll just take it again next year or something. Thanks for all the reviews! Woah! 330. that's a lot….**

**-Ahhh…. and Nina! Remember that idea for the end u had like, 3 months ago? I think I'll use it. I'm just gonna tweak it a little. So thanks!**

**- HI ****Kakashi's Angel****! You are the cooliest fanfic buddy ever! lol**

**--**

**Sakura and Kakashi met up in the middle of a forest, outside of town…**

They found a nice quiet place in a cluster of trees.

"Nervous?", Sakura asked.

"Nah, you?", her sensei replied.

"Eh, a little" (**lol it still sounds perverted)**

Sakura blushed and looked up at him. "This requires a lot of chakra, so I need your help too..."

Kakashi knew exactly what she meant. He put his palm on her necklace, located on her chest. He closed his eyes and focused his chakra onto his hand. Sakura did the same, but instead, focused her chakra onto her chest

**

* * *

****Fast Forward to the FUTURE…**

"Tsunade-sama! Have you completed you paperwork?", Shizune burst into the room and found Tsunade sitting at her desk with a sake bottle in hand.

"Tsunade-sama! You must complete your duties! After all, it's a Hokage's—"

"Responsibility. Yeah-Yeah, I heard that line a million times. Get off my back , Shizune.", Tsunade slurred while rolling her eyes.

Shizune stepped back with a look of hurt on her face. "You're drunk…that's enough sake for one day." She attempted to grab the sake bottle and run, but she stopped when she spotted the Godaime's chest.

"Tsunade-sama…that necklace your grandfather gave to you…"

"What about it?", the drunk snapped.

"It's glowing!", the apprentice's eyes widened.

Tsunade stared at the jewelry in surprise.

Just then, they heard a small voice.

"_Tsunade-sama? Can you hear me?"_

"SAKURA!!!! I mean…yeah, what?", Tsunade held in her enthusiasm. She still remembered the last **rude **conversation they had.

"…_Oh, umm… sorry about what I said, last time…"_

"…"

" And unfortunately, Kakashi-sensei overheard our conversation. So I told him about the mission, the necklace…everything" Sakura said nervously.

* * *

**Back to the past….**

There was a silence. Sakura looked at Kakashi sensei, who shrugged his shoulders.

"do you think we lost connection?", she whispered.

Seconds later.

"SAKURA!!!!!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!???? DO YOU REALIZE THAT THIS CAN SEVERE YOU'RE CHANCES IN COMPLETING THE MISSION!?!?!?!?!?!"

Tsunade's screams can be echoed throughout the forest.

Now Sakura was mad. "IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU AND INO-PIG, THIS NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!!", she shouted in reply.

"WELL I HOPE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING BECAUSE OUR FUTURE RESTS IN YOUR HANDS!!!!!! YOU **DO** KNOW THAT DON'T YOU?"

"…Yes"

"well, what's done is done. So what do you plan on doing on the mission? You have a plan don't you?", Tsunade's voice calmed down, they could tell.

"…uhhh. We want to learn more about Orochimaru. You fought him once, didn't you?"

"Aa. Well… Orochimaru is immortal. He is---"

Just then they heard a voice in the background.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a mission report for you."

Kakashi heard and let out a gasp.

Sakura noticed. "Kakashi-sensei?"

--

**--FUTURE—**

Kakashi strolled into the Godaime's office, with a scroll in one hand.

"Tsunade-sama, I have a mission report for you…", Kakashi stared at Tsunade in confusion. 'Oh my god. She's talking to her breasts'

Tsunade looked up in annoyance. "Just put them on the desk, Kakashi, I'm talking to Sakura."

Future-Kakashi's raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard his name through the necklace.

"Kakashi-sensei?" , he heard.

"Sakura! How is my beloved pupil?", future-Kakashi's eye creased.

"Well, believe it or not, your past-self is standing here, with me."

Future-Kakashi choked on his own saliva. "WHA-WHAT?!"

--

Meanwhhile, past-Kakashi couldn't believe his ears. His future-self is talking to Sakura through the necklace!

"Yeah, say 'hi', Kakashi-sensei!", Sakura smiled and stepped closer to him so he could speak.

"uhh….yo?"

future-Kakashi couldn't help but reply. "Hi there!"

"Well, this is an interesting experience….having a conversation with my future-self!", Past-Kakashi scatched the back of his head nervously.

"I suppose it is!", future Kakashi made the same gesture with his hands.

"…"

"…"

"So… found anyone yet?"

"no…", Future Kakashi gave a miserable sigh.

"What?!?!"

"As much as I'd hate to interrupt your conversation, I've just had an idea!", Sakura interrupted.

"Do tell", Tsunade spoke.

"Well, since future Kakashi had much more experience…"

"NO", future-Kakashi gave a bitter reply.

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Why the hell not?"

"It was already risky sending you back in time, can you imagine how much harder it is for me?"

"That's not fair! Even YOU were closer to Sasuke than I ever was! Won't it be better for Sasuke's father-figure to do this task instead of me!? I'm in dire need of help…"

--

**THE FUTURE**

Tsunade looked up at Kakashi.

"I do have an extra necklace…", Tsunade lifted her own and showed Kakashi. "If you want to help Sakura…"

"…"

"That second exam is most likely in two days or so..."

Kakashi stared at the necklace and sighed. "Hai."

--

Sakura heard this and smiled. Meanwhile, past-Kakashi gave a look of concern.

"Won't it be risky? Having two Kakashis running around?"

Sakura smiled "It will be fine. Tomorrow, you train Sasuke. When future-Kakashi arrives, I will tell him our plan. He will be of great help in this operation."

"Expect future-Kakashi by dawn", Tsunade said. "Now get of my office!!!"

Sakura and Kakashi looked at each other. "We're not in your office", they said simultaneously.

"…Well, in that case…KAKASHI!!! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE! AND YOU TWO… GO AWAY! I HAVE A DATE WITH SOME PAPERWORK."

--

"Well, that was interesting…" Sakura laughed nervously.

"And she's gonna be future hokage…", Kakashi shivered.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't you have somewhere to go?"

"Do I?", Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

"Sasuke! You doofus! Did you forget?"

"Oh yeah…"

"Um…", Sakura blushed. "You can take your hand off my chest now…"

Kakashi seized his hand away as if he got burned by touching it. "O-Of course", Kakahsi blushed under his mask and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"Perv…", Sakura smirked and poofed away.

Kakashi heaved a sigh and looked over his head. 'Kami-sama, What have I gotten myself into?' And he himself vanished from the spot as well.

**Yess…pretty short. I know I have some grammar mistakes in there but my laptop is being a bitch. I will update in two days or something. Or after the last day of skool. Sorry if this chapter confused u...**

**Cheers.**


	16. ch16

Hello! I had nothing else to do, since I didn't really feel like going to school today… 

**Here's an answer to that question many of you had:**

**Yes, I want TWO Kakashi's. Who doesn't? He's so sexy. And Sakura took over her younger body instead of just going back in time as herself because I hate younger Sakura and I didn't want to include her in my fic since the beginning. Yup. Well, that wasn't a really good explanation. **

**Okay, so if there was a younger Sakura AND an older Sakura, it would just be annoying. Cuz I have seen many authors do that in their fics and it gets confusing. Also, it would be most difficult for Sakura to just make her younger self go along with it. Cuz she's so annoying and whiny. On the other hand, I realized that past-Kakashi wouldn't be enough help for Sakura cuz he doesn't know what the fuck is going on, but Sakura will need his strength. Future-Kakashi would make this story even better. And I can make them both there at the same time because….Kakashi is sexy. End of story. **

**And if you don't like it, then fuck you! Ah! JKJKJKJK. I'm sorry, I am the best at explaining.**

**And ummm…I'm sorta makin this up as I go along…DON'T KILL ME!!!!**

_**

* * *

**_

_**Dawn:**_

Sasuke was in the training grounds again, perfecting his chakra. But his heart wasn't at all in training. Not today. That girl was always clouding his mind. Sakura…

**FLASH…**

"_I especially __**hate**__ people who think they're so superior that they treat others like dirt. People who would betray their friends, play around with their feelings…Getting all worked up on their ambitions, never realizing the people who care about them the most…"_

**FLASH…**

"My life is none of your concern. The both of you" FLASH…

**Flash...**

"_What did I do that made you like this?"_

"…_You have no idea"_

**FLASH…**

Sasuke shook off his thoughts when someone came up behind him.

"K-Kakashi", Sasuke turned around to face his sensei.

"Sasuke…", Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he studied the face of his once-favored pupil.

"What do you want? You can tell that I am busy.", Sasuke turned his back and flung a kunai at a target post.

Kakashi nodded, never taking his eyes off of the Uchiha boy. "Have you

seen…Sakura?"

Sasuke scoffed. "I'm not surprised. She's all you ever really talk about these recent days…"

Kakashi raised a brow. _'What is this boy talking about?"_

Sasuke turned around with a look of annoyance in his face. "Look, you bastard. I don't really wanna know what you two are doing when me and Naruto aren't around...", he paused. "But answer _this_ question..."

Sasuke couldn't look at this guy without feeling disgust. So instead, he stared at the ground.

"Why Sakura?"

Kakashi flinched. "…Excuse me???"

"Why do you act like you don't know?", Sasuke was furious. "It's obvious" '_Gah! What is this feeling??? What's this pain…' _Sasuke's heart was pounding.

'_Hm. Weird…the boy is acting like Sakura and I are having an affair …__**What**__ happened?' _Kakashi pondered. He didn't know what to say. How can he deal with this awkward situation? He must escape…

"Uhhh…LOOK!!! A DISTRACTION!!!" Kakashi pointed to some random place in the woods. Sasuke reluctantly turned his head. Realizing his mistake, he mentally kicked himself in the gut.

Kakashi was gone. Sasuke growled. _'What a fool I am…' _He pulled his kunais off the target posts and continued with training.

* * *

Sakura was meditating at her apartment, sitting cross-legged on the floor, near an open window. She felt a sudden breeze hit her face and hesitantly opened her eyes. _'Kakashi?'_

Silence.

_'No, he's not here yet. If he was, I would've sensed his chakra the second he set foot at my window…right? Ugh…Where the hell is he? It's already dawn…'_

Sakura rose to her feet and strode over to the window. Resting her head in her hands against the top of the windowsill, she sighed. "That is _so_ like him." She huffed.

"_What_ is _so _like him?" she was startled at the sudden sound of his voice. In seconds, she was face to face with Kakashi, only that Kakashi…was upside-down outside her window. Sakura's forehead collided with his and they both hissed in pain. Sakura stepped back from the window, allowing her sensei to jump in.

"Geez, Sakura…why do you have to have such a wide forehead", Kakashi groaned, still rubbing his brow.

Sakura twitched as her full-chakra blown fist hammered into his jaw. "YOU'RE LATE!"

"Owwwww…", Kakashi whined. "Is this what I get? Traveling back here all the way from the future, to be punched in the face by my pupil? Not to mention getting smacked by her big forehead…", Kakashi muttered the last few words to himself.

"Gomen, Kakashi-sensei…", Sakura sighed and closed the window shut.

"Aa. That's all right. You sure got a mean left hook there, Sakura-chan." Kakashi's eye creased.

Sakura laughed softly. "Let's head into the kitchen, I'll find something for you to drink"

* * *

IN SAKURA'S KITCHEN… 

"So, did you run into any problems while getting up here?", she asked while before taking a sip of her tea.

"…"

Sakura looked up from her cup. " Kakashi-sensei…"

"I ran into Sasuke earlier…" Kakashi stared at his untouched beverage.

"Oh?", Sakura grew interested.

"He seemed pretty angry when I approached him. Does he…think my past-self is having an affair with you?"

Sakura set her cup on the table and smirked. "I see…"

"Sakura…what did you do?", Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Ah. It's nothing. That's what he gets for being such a nosy brat.", Sakura closed her eyes and smiled. "We were just messing with him"

Kakashi twitched. "But now the kid will think I'm some pedophile who's interested in underaged girls!"

Sakura shrugged. "Not _my_ problem". She took a few more sips of tea.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at her "You look so…young and innocent, yet you're so evil."

Sakura giggled. "Don't judge your books"

"Ahhhh!!!! I forgot my book!!!!", Kakashi's eyes grew frantic.

Sakura sweatdropped. "Chill sensei! You can just borrow those pervy books from your past-self!"

Anime tears came down his face. "But those are all the OLD editions! I _already_ read _those_!", he whined.

"Geez, I'm beginning to like your past-self better. At least _he's_ not as whiny as you.", Sakura rolled her eyes.

Kakashi immediately stopped crying. "Where _is_ my past-self, by the way?", he asked in a serious tone.

Sakura shrugged. "I told him to take a break from all the 'future/past' stuff and train Sasuke to become stronger, and not as useless."

Kakashi looked at her, his eyes widened. "Uh-Oh"

* * *

"Hello, my dear Sasuke-_kun_", Past-Kakashi leaned against a tree, putting emphasis on the 'kun'.

Sasuke's back was facing him. "You run away like a little coward, then you come back to watch me suffer some more?"

"Uh…"

"What the hell is your problem?", Sasuke turned, his Sharingan blazing.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss something here?"

Sasuke pulled out his kunai and sprinted towards him.

Kakashi was startled. He didn't really expect him to attack so suddenly. He whipped up a kunai of his own and flung it at the boy, trying to slow him down. _' Well…I guess this is training…sorta'_ he thought to himself. He watched the boy dodge the weapon by flinging his _own _kunai at it. Metal clanged and both knives changed direction, meanwhile, Sasuke was in the air, making handsigns. Kakashi stared at the figure, wide-eyed. _' If I'm not mistaken, he's attempting to perform the Hōsenka no Jutsu! This jutsu sends balls of fire at a target. It is also possible to hide shurikens within the fireballs, creating an unexpected secondary surprise attack. But… this jutsu is used mostly as a distraction... what's he got under his sleeve?'_

Sasuke performed the last of his handsigns and focused his eyes on Kakashi.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!", he yelled, emitting several flaming shuriken from his mouth. Kakashi jumped back, a few meters away. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a blur, then in a blink of an eye, Sasuke was right below him, in a split second, Sasuke was already behind him, attempting to kick him in the back of his head. Kakashi crouched down to his knees, dodging the blow. As of now, Sasuke's right foot was in the air, where Kakashi's head has been only seconds before. Kakashi grabbed the foot Sasuke was standing on and whirled him in the air. Letting go, the Uchiha was launched into the air and landed hard on a tree branch. Coughing up drops of blood, Sasuke quickly rose to his feet. Jealousy and rage has already taken over his body.

"Katon: Gōkaikyū no Jutsu!" Sasuke spewed up a huge ball of fire towards his sensei.

"The great fireball technique?", Kakashi asked. The fireball was followed by a windmill shuriken, spinning furiously at his direction.

He was already prepared to block it but a figure appeared in the way.

"Sakura", Kakashi panted.

The kunoichi ignored him. Instead, she was looking curiously at the raven-haired shinobi in front of her.

"Demon Windmill Shuriken, Sasuke?", Sakura raised a brow. She twirled the shuriken in her fingers.

"…", Sasuke deactivand his sharingan and just stared at the girl wearily. '_She simply stepped in front of the man and stopped it with an effortless flick of her wrist'_

Sakura turned her head towards Kakashi and grinned, "You must be glad I stepped in just in time!"

Kakashi sweatdropped. "I could've stopped it myself"

"You ungrateful bastard!!!", Sakura raised a fist. She sighed when she noticed Sasuke's chakra disappeared. "Ah well…"

Someone else appeared from the shadows. Sakura smiled as he walked over.

"Past-Kakashi, meet your future self!", Sakura rested her hands on his hips and smiled triumphantly.

The two Kakashis stared at each other.

"Does my hair look _that _weird? Maybe Naruto was right…", Past-Kakashi poked Future-Kakasi's hair.

"EY! Don't touch.", Future-Kakashi closed his eyes and smoothed back his hair.

"Arrogant much…" Past-Kakashi frowned.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I see we aren't EXACTLY getting along"

The two Kakashis stared intensely at each other.

"Ahem!", Sakura ahemed.

"I'm sorry, what did you say Sakura?", the two answered in unison.

Sakura sighed. "I'm gonna…take a walk."

"Sure, Sure", both said.

Sakura turned to leave. "You better have your staring contest at your house…or someone might find this suspicious."

The Kakashis nodded and disappeared at the same time.

Sasuke was limping home in exhaustion. What a day he's had…

"Sasuke…", Sakura called behind him.

Sasuke stopped walking and turned around. His dark orbs met her green ones.

Sakura stepped forward. "were you…trying to _kill _Kakashi-sensei?", she tilted her head.

"Hn."

"Hn as in _yes_ or Hn as in _no_?"

"Hn as in: leave me alone" Sasuke glared. Sakura stared at him with disappointment.

"You left this", Sakura put the shuriken blade in his hands. He stared at it.

"…"

"I'm sorry I've been acting…weird lately. Not to mention a bit of a show-off..."

Sasuke's eyes shifted from the shuriken, to the girl standing before him.

"I really want to tell you what's been going on…but I cannot. I just came here to tell you, that Kakashi and I aren't in a relationship. We have done nothing 'sexual' in the forest. It was ALL a misunderstanding…" Sakura spoke softly.

Sasuke kept an emotionless expression on his face, though inwardly relieved…and embarrassed. His eyes traveled from her eyes down to her lips. '_She's __**still**__ talking?'_ he watched her lips moving.

He stepped forward, his body close to hers. Sakura noticed and stepped back. He stepped forward again…and she stepped back once more. Sakura could tell what he was trying to do. He was backing her up into a tree. Sakura made an 'oof' sound when her back made contact with the tree.

"H-hey, what are you doing?", Sakura squeaked. She couldn't help but feel small and weak. He was still taller than her, still bigger.

"S-sasuke, you don't wanna--" it was too late. Sasuke closed his eyes and crashed his lips unto hers, pinning her on the tree with his arms. Nowhere to escape.

Sakura's eyes widened. She was kissing Uchiha, Sasuke. But what scared her the most was that she _**let**_ Sasuke kiss her. Especially little _twelve_-year old Uchiha, Sasuke.

Sakura wasn't responding to the kiss, Sasuke noticed. He pressed his lips harder unto her.

Sakura twitched but Sasuke didn't really notice. '_Ewwww…what am I doing! I can't let him kiss me! He's a bazillion years younge_r t_han me!'_

**_'Yuck, I know. Ah, well. You better just let him. Maybe you guys will get even closer!'_**-Inner Sakura. 

'Tch, I doubt it. He'll just pretend this never happened by tomorrow.'

**_'Oh. So you would rather leave him heart broken'_**-Inner Sakura 

'_Well, you're just making it sound horrible. Maybe…if I 'accidentally' kick him in the groin…'_

**_'You WOULDN'T'_**, Inner Sakura gasped. **

* * *

**

**GAH, my dad was peaking over my shoulder and was tryin to read it! **_**So**_** nosy…**


	17. ch17

**Hey its me again! Ummm…this chapter is sorta crackified. It sorta turned out weird. My sincere apoligies.**

**-Yes ****Chibimasta**** it **_**is**_** weird. But if past-Kakashi made a bunshin, it will still have the same knowledge as he did. However, Future Kakashi will help out cause he had more experience with this whole scenerio and whatever. And also because he and Sakura knows whats gonna happen, unlike Past-Kakashi, who's just involved with this mission by accident. And if Sakura tells Past-Kakashi EVERYTHING, the whole mission might be screwed.**

**And if I didn't answer any of ur questions, its most likely because I fergot or I missed it or something…**

**--**

**Chapter 18- 'Enter: Younger Sakura'**

Sasuke's tongue flicked her bottom lip, causing her to let out a gasp. He took this opportunity to slip his tongue inside her mouth. He roamed around for Sakura's tongue, finding it cowering in the back of her throat.

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked down at the kunoichi. Instead of green ones, he found himself staring at a pair of cerulean blue eyes instead. Sasuke blinked.

'_Wait…blue eyes? Blonde hair?' _he looked further down and caught sight of an all too familiar, orange jumpsuit.

"N-Naruto?!", Sasuke stammered as he jumped back. The blonde boy just stared at him in confusion .

"I…I think…I'm gonna….Gonna be…", Sasuke managed to blurt out before arching forward and hurling up his dinner.

'Naruto' took this chance to escape the hell outta there and hid herself behind a tree. Once she was fully concealed, she transformed back to her pink-haired self in a poof of smoke.

"Phew, that _way_ too close for comfort…", Sakura panted as her back leaned against the tree.

'_**Too close for comfort!? His fucking tongue was down your fuckin throat!!!**_' –Inner Sakura exclaimed.

'_don't remind me…_' Sakura slumped down onto the grass.

'_**Hmph. I dunno…Sasuke is a smart boy. He'll find out you pulled a Henge on him, sooner or later'**_ Inner Sakura grumbled.

Sakura pulled herself up and continued walking down the path._ 'If this boy starts to fall in love with me…very unexpected changes will occur' _the kunoichi couldn't help but worry about this thought.

* * *

Meanwhile… 

Sasuke wiped the remaining vomit from the corners of his mouth and stood up. _'That was a pretty nasty trick the girl pulled on me…' _he thought angrily

It was a quarter till midnight already. All was silent except for a few crickets heard in the bushes. '_I better get home quickly, before I barf again'_, he thought.

Just then, Naruto Uzumaki came walking up the road from out of the blue. His eyes lit up when he spotted the Uchiha.

"Oi! Sasuke!", Naruto waved as he walked toward Sasuke in a faster pace.

Just by looking at him, the young Uchiha immediately bent forward and threw up on the grass, once again.

"Augh! Nasty! You Sicko!", Naruto stepped back with a look of disgust. "I mean, _Come_ _On_! I just ate at Ichiraku's a few minutes ago!"

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"Go Home"

"Fine! Daaaaaang!"

* * *

Sakura silently squatted on the windowsill of Kakashi's apartment. The light was on, so she decided to drop by and see if they were getting along. She spotted _one_ Kakashi reading a book on the bed, but…where was the other Kakashi?

Just then, a door in the room opened and out came a shirtless Kakashi, with the infamous mask still around his face. Sakura couldn't help but gape at his well-toned chest. Her eyes traveled further down… _**'Ahhh! Omigosh! He has abs!!!! ABS!!!!'**_, Inner Sakura squealed like a fangirl.

Shirtless Kakashi noticed the girl eying him from the windowsill and gave an overly exaggerated gasp.

"Sakura!? What are _you_ doing here? I could've walked in here naked!", both Kakashi's couldn't help but smirk at Sakura's reaction.

Sakura blushed furiously. "Shut up! I-I was just checking up on you two…"

"Ahh…Just the person I wanted to see.", the Kakashi on the bed closed his book and looked up. "I was just about to head to _your_ place this evening."

Sakura stepped closer uncertainly. "You are…the future one?"

The future Kakashi nodded. "The Godaime wanted me to tell you that you will be going back to the future for a day. She wanted to teach you something she was saving until now."

"Now??? She wants to see me _now_?", Sakura's eyes grew wide.

"Now", shirtless Kakashi murmured behind her. Striking the back of her neck with his hand, she fell unconscious.

Future Kakashi caught her and picked her up bridal-style. "Hmph. _I _wanted to knock her out." Future Kakashi grumbled as he laid his student on his futon.

Past Kakashi rolled his eyes and threw on a shirt. "Am I always this whiny in the future?"

Future Kakashi put on a look of shock. "Excuse me?"

"Oh shut up and go read that book I lended you"

" Gah! I know already _know_ what's gonna happen! I read this 6 years ago! The girl dies!"

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Baka! Why did you tell me!? You just ruined the whole thing!", Past Kakashi moaned.

* * *

**_The Future…_**

**(Sakura's POV)**

'_Ahhhh! It's dark!__**'**_

'_**Open your eyes, dipshit' **_, Inner Sakura sweatdropped.

'_Gotcha'_, I opened my eyes to find a pair of hazel ones staring down at me.

**(END Sakura's POV)**

"Tsunade-sama? How…"

The Fifth gave her a hug. "Orochimaru's not the only one who knows the Edo Tensei", she whispered.

Sakura pulled away and looked at Tsunade in confusion. "Huh?"

"The Edo Tensei. Also known as Reanimation technique. By using a sacrifice, you can bring the dead back to life!"

Sakura let out a gasp of realization. "Is that why…you wanted me to leave my corpse here in the present? So I can come back?"

"Right-o" , Tsunade lazily gave her a thumbs up.

"How did you learn the jutsu?" she asked.

"Eh, I don't really feel like telling you that"

Sakura fumed. "Okay, so tell me why Kakashi didn't just enter his past-selves body like _I_ did?"

"Because Kakashi is just sexy like that"

**(A.N: NAW, I'm just kidding….well…its true, but tsunade didn't really say that.)**

"I guess it's because your past-Kakashi is in cahoots with the mission.", Tusnade shrugged and stood up.

"Now follow me, I'm gonna make you train your ass off today!", Tsunade pumped her fist in the air. "Tomorrow, in your past time, is the second exam."

"I don't get it. Didn't you teach me everything you know? And if not…why _now_?",

Tsunade snickered. "I feel that now is the right time to teach you this special seal"

Sakura looked at her uncertainly, but reluctantly followed her master to the door.

* * *

** Past**

Future and Past Kakashi woke up at 5 in the moning. Past Kakashi used the shower first. Future Kakashi glanced down at the girl sleeping on the futon.

"How long does this guy take a shower?" , he whined out loud.

Instantly hearing his grumbles, the girl's eyes snapped open. She sat up from her futon and silently took in her surroundings. Her eyes rested open a gray-haired man in the room.

Letting out an ear-priercing shriek, she hid under the covers. After becoming almost half-deaf, Kakashi looked down at the girl wearily.

"What's up with you?", he raised an eyebrow.

Sakura peeked at him from under the blanket. "Who are you? You better not rape me or anything…", the girl squeaked.

"Sakura?", Kakashi cautiously stepped forward.

"Don't get any closer y-you pervert!!!", Sakura closed her eyes tightly and put her hands up in defense.

Kakashi's eyes widened. _'This must be younger Sakura! Since older Sakura's soul is back in the future, the original Sakura is back in her body'_

"You'll see! My Sasuke-kun will come here any minute now and save me! Then he'll beat you up. And then we're gonna get married, and have two kids and we're gonna live happily ever after! And then when we retire and die, our kids will become the greatest ninjas ever and-"

"Look! It's Sasuke!", Kakashi pointed at the window.

Sakura eyes lit up as she turned around. "Sasuke-kun!"

At this moment, Kakashi knocked her out with a book and she crashed to the floor unconcious.

Suddenly, past-Kakashi came in the room (clothed) and stared at the unconcious girl on the floor.

"What did you do?", he asked.

"Hn. Too bad I can't kill her, or older Sakura won't exist."

"That's…?"

"Younger Sakura. Now help me stuff her in this closet.", Future Kakashi replied and dragged the girl's body by the feet.

"What?! We can't do that!" Past Kakashi exclaimed.

"Of course we can!", Future Kakashi simply stuffed the body in the closet and smiled as he shut the door. "See!"

Past Kakashi groaned and smacked his forehead. "We're in trouble. I'm supposed to meet with Team 7 this morning."

"No we're not! Well…not yet. _Someone _has to pose as Sakura for today!", Future Kakashi replied.

"…"

"Fiine…I'll do it", Future Kakashi sighed and made a few handsigns.

--

**At the Bridge…**

Sasuke and Naruto have been waiting for a few hours now.

"Geez! Why is Sakura always late! She's beginning to act like Kakashi-sensei", Naruto complained.

Suddenly there was a poof and the said person appeared in front of them.

"Yo…er, I mean Ohayo Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun!", the disguised Kakashi waved.

"_Sasuke-kun? Naruto-kun? Sakura wouldn't say that. And she's rarely as cheerful as this' _, Sasuke thought.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Do you know Kakashi sensei is?", Naruto asked.

**-FlashBack- (an hour ago)**

"_**Obito…he didn't deserve to die…"Future Kakashi spoke softly.**_

"_**This is all my fault…"Past Kakashi sighed. "If I can turn back time…"**_

_**The two Kakashi's stood by the big memorial rock in silence. **_

_**Future Kakashi scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "You wouldn't want to do that . Look, don't go so hard on yourself."**_

"_**Heh.", Past Kakashi continued to say his prayers.**_

_**-End Flash back-**_

_Sakura's_ thoughts were interrupted when his past-self appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Yo", the gray-haired jonin spoke in a lazy tone.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are we gonna do today!?", Naruto yelled in excitement while jumping up and down.

Sasuke continued to stare at Sakura. So Sakura averted her gaze elsewhere.

"Hm…We have no missions, so there's nothing else better to do than spar!", The jounin answered cheerfully.

The pink-haired girl snickered. "I wanna spar with _you_, Kakashi-_sensei_"

The jounin smirked. "Bring it on, pinky"

Naruto rested his hands behind his head. "_I_ wanted to spar with Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke isn't much of a challenge for me"

"What did you say, _dobe_?", Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his blonde team mate.

"Nothing, _teme_" Naruto narrowed his eyes back. Soon, sparks of electricity crossed between the two **(eh, don't know how to explain it.)**

So the team crossed over to the training grounds and got ready for sparring. Sakura with Kakashi on one side, and Naruto with Sasuke on the other.

--

**Sakura vs. Kakashi (Kakashi vs. Kakashi)**

Sakura smirked, "my past self can't defeat me! I've gotten stronger during the past 6 years"

"And older. You probably won't catch up to _my_ speed", Kakashi grinned. "And besides, you don't have the sharingan, since you are posing as Sakura"

"Oh yes I can!", Sakura's left green eye turned into his blood red sharingan eye.

"hmph", Kakashi slid his forehead protector up, revealing _his_ as well.

(so the sparring went for hours because their moves were equally matched but finally, Sakura (future kakashi) won cuz he's from the future yo! I mean…he's a little stronger)

--

**Naruto vs. Sasuke-**

Uhhh…I don't really feel like telling you this either, but lets say that that they were almost evenly matched as well, but Sasuke had the upper hand, so _he_ wins. And Naruto is still weak at this time, and he didn't let out his fox demon cuz that's retarded if he did, cuz its really supposed to be used as a last resort, and they are just sparring. And I'm talking too much, so I'll just shut up now….

--

**Future**

"Whooo! I did it!", Sakura smiled proudly at the seal on her forehead.

"I'm very proud of you Sakura! Good job!", Tsunade gave a warm smile.

"Okay, now you've definitely created a second Tsunade", a voice in the doorway spoke.

Tsunade gave a small laugh. "Come in Jiraiya"

The ero-sennin **(haha) **strolled into Tsunade's office and sighed. "All you need to do is dye her hair blonde and your good to go", he gave her a thumbs up.

"What do you want?", Tsunade felt her patience decreasing.

"I just wanted to wish Sakura the best of luck. I mean, she _is_ our only hope", Jiraiya answered calmly.

"Arigatou, Jiraiya-sama", Sakura bowed.

"But just remember, you might not be able to defeat this guy. Be very careful. He's not human. He knows about over a thousand jutsu, even more than Kakashi."

Sakura gulped. She hadn't known this about the snake sannin.

"And remember, he _did_ kill the third hokage-"

"H-Hai", Sakura was feeling unsure of herself at this moment. Tsunade noticed and heaved a sigh.

"Your mission is not to _kill _Orochimaru. Just prevent him of his plans. That's all we ask", Tsunade reached over to pat Sakura on the shoulder. "Now, you should get going"

"Hai"

"Remember all that I taught you"

"Hai"

"And if you see me, tell him to take the money, he'll understand.", Jiraiya smiled and nodded.

Sakura looked rather peeved, "Don't you have somewhere else to go?"

Jiraiya grumbled some incoherent words as he proceeded out the door.

Sakura turned to Tsunade. "Ummm…must I stay in my younger body?"

"Yes, you do. Or else your younger-self will awaken.", the Godaime answered

"I don't know if my younger body has the potential in retaining _all _my chakra."

Tsunade paused. Then said, " That is true, but only for tomorrow, you must show your true form to Orochimaru. No one else, except for maybe the Kakashi's . And you must use the transformation as your 12 year old body, from time to time. As for your past-self, try knocking her out and stuff her in a closet or something."

Sakura sweatdropped. "H-hai"

--

**Past**

The two Kakashi's arrived at their apartment at 8 p.m. They were pretty exhausted from their little spar.

Both were startled find a women with pink-hair, sitting on the futon. She had a pretty irritated look on her face. "I travel back here to find myself locked in a closet. So which one of you geniuses stuffed younger Sakura in there?", she said, pointing to the closet door with a still unconscious Sakura laying on the floor.

"S-Sakura?", Past Kakashi's visible eye stared at the woman on his bed. She looked even prettier as an adult.

"Younger Sakura is still out cold, eh?", Future Kakashi tilted his head.

"Gah, I knocked her out again. She was annoying me while I was in that closet.", Sakura rolled her eyes.

-Silence-

"So we're still keeping her in the closet?", Past Kakashi asked.

"Works for me" both Future Kakashi and Sakura answered quickly.

"Well, I gotta head home. Be prepared for tomorrow. Remember the plan", Sakura made a handsign and transformed into her past self. "Ja ne!", and with that, she leaped out the window.

--

**You guys tell me if you want:**

**Past-Kakashi/Sakura**

**Sasuke/Sakura**

**Future Sakura/Younger Sakura (just kidding)**

**None**

**Every vote counts. Review!!! and I'm sorry that I keep dragging the story on, but I'm still thinking about what to write for the second exam.**


	18. ch18

_**If I Can Turn Back Time**_

**BWHAHAHHAHAHA!!! I am no longer _fantagrl64_** **any more! (ew. i didnt mean for it to rhyme...) --------------------------------------------------------------- I changed it to LKakashiSXE. It explains why on my profile. AND ITS NOT SPANISH. well... the 'SXE' (es sexy) _is_ though...-----------------------------------------------------------**

**I'm terribly sorry for the late update. But I didnt make any promises! Thanks to all of my reviewers who took their time voting. I will announce the winning pairing soon. But that's like...2-4 more chapters ahead. heh, heh... ****ONCE AGAIN, I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE IT! **

**

* * *

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**-------Happy Birthday Nina! Yup! I updated for _you_ babeh!-----(dont worry, your author is NOT lesbo)-----------**

**YOU MUST WATCH EPISODES 27-28 TO UNDERSTAND THIS**

* * *

**_Chapter 19_**

Sakura suddenly awoke at 3 in the morning. She rested her hands behind her head and stared blankly into the darkness above her. Once she awoke, it was impossible to get back to sleep.

"That nightmare...", she muttered. The kunoichi kicked off the sheets, then swung her legs over the bed so that she sat upright and her feet touched the floor. _'What was it supposed to mean?'_ She sat there for a good 6 minutes, not really wanting to get up. Today, was the day.

Her eyes soon adjusted to the pitch black room. She wearily got to her feet, deciding to shrug off her thoughts at the moment, and take a cold shower. But her thoughts soon came back as she stepped out of the bathroom. She sighed and stood in front of the mirror, staring at her nudeness. _'I thought...that he was out of my dreams for good'_ she thought as she unraveled the towel from her hair and tossed it aside. She got dressed and packed her stuff on the bed.

"I don't love him anymore", she had said these words to herself for the umpteenth time in a row.

_**'Did you** really **let him go, Sakura?' , **_her inner self asked calmly.

Sakura heaved a sigh. _'Sasuke is a threat to the future. I agreed to do this mission for the sake of Konoha. He is nothing more to me. His_ life _means nothing to me. I just wanna get this troublesome mission done with, and go home'_

**_'Har! Liar, Liar, Plants for Hire!"_**

'...don't you mean _pants on fire_?' Sakura sweatdropped.

_**'That's not the point. I mean, seriously, if Sasuke is nothing to you...****then you would have eliminated that sorry bastard's ass from the start'**_

Sakura stiffened.

_**'ne, Sakura-chan? No one said you **couldn't _**kill**_ **him. Never has that thought even** crossed** your mind?', **_inner Sakura asked.

"..."

**_'This way, you can be certain that Sasuke would NEVER get that seal, he would NEVER break that heart of yours again. And it would benefit you, it would benefit me-- it would benefit just about everybody!'_**

"..."

**_'After all...his life doesnt mean anything, ne?_**' Inner Sakura's voice started to fade and Sakura was left alone with a deafening silence in her head. Sakura stood there, thinking over what her inner had said.

She made quick handsigns and transformed into younger Sakura. She gazed at her mirror, once again, and noticed the long pink strands that swept over her face. She smiled faintly and pulled her long hair into a tight bun.

_'I won't let this hair be a nuisance again' _She grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder. In less than a minute, she was out the door, deciding to pick up breakfast on the way there.

* * *

As she walked closer to the gates of the _Forest of Death_, she spotted one of the Kakashi's speaking with a familiar purple-haired jounin--Just as planned. Kakashi glanced over at Sakura and gave her a small nod. She understood instantly and walked by them. 

'_I see Kakashi has managed to converse with Anko...' _, Sakura glanced at the sweet-toothed ninja, who playfully punched Kakashi on the arm. Sakura could tell how much pain he was in right now. '_By the looks of it, everything is running smoothly..._' she smirked as the gray-haired jounin winced and rubbed his arm in pain.

"Why so early, Sakura-chan?" a voice behind her made her jump. She turned, and was face to face with a boy around younger Sakura's age, with dark eyes, spiky black hair, and a rock village hitai-ate tied around his head in a sloppy fashion. **(A.N: pretty much looks like Obito, without the goggles! oh snap!)** His outfit consisted of a gray hoodie and black cargo pants.

Sakura giggled. "hehe, your look...is so boring, Kakashi-sensei!"

The future jounin rolled his eyes. "Ya got the stuff?"

"Yes _Sir_!", she said mockingly.

"good.", the rock ninja grinned. He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful now. I will be right behind you."

Sakura nodded. "But...don't you need a team? How can you get in without the proctors knowing? You didn't even take the written exams"

" Past-Kakashi found a way to get me in. Don't ask me how. And I disguised Pakkun and another one of my hounds as two rock-nin", he replied. "That way, my team can track you down easily"

"Oh, I see...", Sakura grinned.

"Sakura", Sasuke came over with his hands in his pockets. Sakura spun around quickly.

"S-Sasuke! What brings _you_ here?", Sakura asked nervously. Sasuke stopped next to Sakura and stared at the spiky-haired rock-nin in front of them.

"You know this guy, Sakura?", Sasuke asked suspicously.

"Ano...he just asked me...where the bathroom is!", she lied, mentally kicking herself for such a lame excuse.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. The rock-nin just sweatdropped.

"Th-there it is..." Sakura hesitantly pointed at a tree in the distance. The rock-nin stood there awkwardly, not exactly knowing what to do. Sakura jabbed him in the gut with her elbow.

"...Arigatou...I never would have found it without you..." the boy winced and walked towards the tree while clutching his stomach.

Sasuke waited until the rock-nin was far enough, "Sakura. Don't get too acquainted with those foreign ninja", he spoke lowly as he continued to stare at the back of the boy's head.

Sakura gave a sly grin. "Well...he _was_ pretty cute...", she glanced at him to see what his reaction would be. But, as usual, that impassive look remained on his face.

"hmph", Sakura folded her arms.

**_-silence-_**

"Sakura", he started. The pink-haired kunoichi raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at him..

"Where did you go yesterday?", his eyes focused on the ground.

Sakura flinched. _'didn't one of those Kakashis take my place that afternoon?_' she thought_. 'okay, Haruno. Play it cool. Tell him he's crazy'_

"You're crazy!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"I mean...what are you talking about?! We had a sparring session out in the fields, remember?"

Sasuke studied her from the corner of his eye. "Of course. My apologies"

"Y-Yeah...", Sasuke scratched the back of her head nervously. '_Gah! Kuso-Amato! You almost gave me a heart-attack!'_

"That was a nice spar you had with Naruto...", Sasuke started.

"Yes! Arigatou!", she replied a little too quickly.

_**-Silence-**_

"Sakura", Sasuke turned towards her and glared.

"N-nani?", Sakura blinked.

"I was bluffing. You were sparring with Kakashi, did you forget? Or did you not remember because you were never there?"

Sakura's eyes grew wide. "Is _that_ what you meant? I thought...you were...I was...uh...that place...", Sakura looked down in embarrassment. Sasuke lifted her chin and pulled her close to his face.

"Why are you lying?", he asked.

Sakura slapped his wrist away and took a step back. "Don't touch me", she hissed. Before Sasuke could reply, they suddenly heard Naruto's footsteps coming near.

"Guys! We are _so_ gonna pass this exam!", Naruto exclaimed as he jumped in between his two teamates.Sakura averted her gaze towards Naruto.

"How would _you_ know, Naruto? You don't even know what this test is _about_." she rolled her eyes.

"I _know_ because I can't become hokage if I fail this test", the Kyuubi vessel grinned stupidly. "and I'm definately gonna become hokage! dattebayo!" , a stream of sunlight just so happened to pour out from the clouds and onto his face as he pointed to some random place in the sky. **:cue cheesy violin music:**

"You Are Such A LOSER"

"Shut up Sasuke,don't ruin the moment", Naruto murmered through gritted teeth as he continued to point at the sky.

* * *

Later on in the day, more and more teams assembled in front of the gate. The main proctor, Anko, was already explaining the second phase of the exam. 

"This is the 44th battle training zone.", Anko started. "But we call it..._The Forest Of Death_ "

Naruto blinked. "The Forest of Death?", he repeated to himself.

"Yep, and soon enough, you're gonna find out why", Anko grinned.

"Hmph", Naruto frowned. "They call it the Forest of Deaathh, and soon enough your gonna find out whyy!", Naruto mimicked the jounin in a mocking tone. "Ha! Do your worst, you're not gonna scare _me_ away!", he pointed a finger at Anko. "I can handle _anything_!"

Anko gave a fake smile. "So, looks like we got ourselves a tough guy!". Still grinning, she withdrew a kunai from her sleeve and flung it towards the cocky twelve-year old. In just barely a blink of an eye, the knife had already flown passed him, grazing his cheek, and landing on the soft dirt. Naruto stiffened as he felt a sudden breeze of wind, the jounin, suddenly behind him.

"You tough enough to handle _this_?", she whispered in his ear."You're not _afraid_ are you?" She leaned closer and brought her fingers to the blood on his cheek. "Guys like _you_ usually leave their blood _all over_ this forest"

Just as she was about to wipe his blood clean, she sensed a sudden motion, and in seconds, she produced a second kunai shot out from under her sleeve. Just when she was about to stab someone, a tongue appeared over her shoulder, gripping the kunai she threw earlier.

"I was just... returning your knife", the owner of the tongue spoke calmly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes towards the ninja. _'That's **him** alrite...' _

"Why, thank you, grass ninja", Anko replied sweetly and was handed the kunai. **(more like tounge-ed...ew wtf?)**

"You know...I really don't recommend you standing this close behind me...", started Anko,"If you wish to reach your premature end"

"My pardon...", the grass ninja recoiled her tongue back inside her mouth. "With the sight of blood on your blade slicing through my hair...I'm afraid I just got a little excited" she said smoothly and stepped back."I meant you no harm"

She made her way through the crowd. Only seconds away from Sakura, their shoulders brushed. The grass ninja looked at her from the corner of her eye. Sakura did likewise, her eyes narrowed. The grass nin arched an eyebrow, but proceeded through the crowd.

After that, Anko passed out consent forms and gave a description of the field.

"The test consists of...", Anko took out two scrolls from her coat, "anything-goes battle to get your hands on these scrolls." She waved them around in the air.

"Both of them?", Sasuke asked.

"Yes, you'll be fighting to get both a Heaven scroll and an Earth scroll. Squads must bring both scrolls to the tower."

**_-silence-_**

"All together, 26 teams will be taking part in this test. So half of those teams, will be going after the heaven scroll. And the _other_ half, will be trying to get an _earth_ scroll. I'll hand out one kind of scroll to each team."

"Oh, and one more thing...this test has a time limit. You must finish this test within _5_ days." Anko stated simply. There was an arousal from the crowd. Everyone shouting- '_FIVE_ days?!' and what not.

Anko proceeded to explain the rules and condtions. "Okay then, we're done! Fill out your consent forms and exchange them over _there_ for your scroll.", she pointed to the nearby booth, "After that, each team pick a gate and you'll be let inside!"

Sakura saw that evryone went to fill up their forms, so she went to a corner and filled hers out as well. As she reread the form, she was stopped by Ino. That disgusting smirk was plastered on her face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little future failure. What's up, billboard brow? I thought you would've wash out of the program by now. Your big forehead _alone_ should have gotten you tossed"

Sakura smirked back. "So sad... you're jealous that I'm spending five days with _Sasuke_. And it's _clearly_ turning you into someone very petty and ugly." _'I know, I said these words before, but I can't resist!'_

A big vain throbbed on the blonde girl's forehead. "BILLBOARD BROW!"

"There is _no_ need for name-calling, Yamanaka", Sakura said smoothly, wagging a finger at her. Normally, she would go and call Ino 'ugly', _or_ 'ino-pig'.

Ino raged. "You said it _first_!"

"Oh, _did_ I?", Sakura put a finger to her lip.

Ino growled in frustration. "Gah!", she stomped away.

Sakura shrugged and went down to the booth with her team to get a scroll.

Anko checked her watch and announced, "LISTEN UP! EVERYONE HAS RECIEVED A SCROLL, SO EVERYONE GO TO YOUR GATE AND WAIT THERE! WHEN THE GATES ARE OPEN, THE TEST IS ON!"

Team 7 stood behind Gate 12. Sakura couldn't help but shiver as she stared through the gate. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder.

"Sakura-chan, if you're scared, let me know, 'cause _I'll_ protect you, no matter what!", Naruto grinned and gave her a thumbs up.

Sakura faked a smile as she brushed his hand off her sholder. "I'll keep that in mind Naruo". _'Protect **me**??? tch, baka'_

Anko glanced at her watch once again. "ALL RIGHT! HEADS UP YOU MAGGOTS! THE SECOND PART OF THE EXAM HAS BEGUN!"

The gates flew open, and every ninja from every village, advanced into the forest in a flash.

* * *

**In the Forest...**

Sasuke was in the lead, Naruto and Sakura was following him from behind. Many thoughts were running through girl's mind, as she stared at the back of the Uchiha's head.

She could already hear screams echoed through out the forest. Naruto scratched the back of his head and grinned.

"Uhh...excuse me, I have to use the...ya know...", he turned around and unzipped his pants.

"Not when there's a lady present, Naruto!", Sakura vexed. "Go do it behind those bushes..."

Naruto scrunched up his nose. "Fine". He made his way into the bushes, leaving Sakura and Sasuke alone. They stood in silence. Sakura contuniued to stare at the back of Sasuke's head, his arms folded, his eyes focused on a tree.

Meanwhile, Sakura was debating quietly to her self. _'should I just complete this mission...the** easy **way?'_

_**'I smell...the perrfect opportunity'**_ Inner Sakura mused.

Sakura gave a small nod and withdrew the kunai knife from her holster. She raised it slowly so that it reached just above head-level. She tightened her grip on the weapon as her eyes fixated on the boy's head. The boy whom she had waited so may years for-- but never returned. The boy who tore her heart into a million pieces. The boy, whom she thought would spent her whole life with...

Meanwhile, the said boy had suddenly sensed his teammate's eyes boring into the back of his head. It was so intense, he could almost _feel_ it. In curiousity, he turned to face her, and was startled to find the raised weapon in her grip.

She just stood there like that. As if she were frozen in place.

But, the thing that startled him the most, was her eyes. He never got a chance to _really _look into them. Not that he really _cared_...But just by looking at her eyes, he could sense such bloodlust, mixed in with anger and loneliness. Similar to _his_.

A shiny, wet film developed over her eyes...the stuff you get when you were on the verge of tears. Sasuke snapped out of his gaze as she thrust her arm foreward, releasing the knife. The way the weapon was thrown...it held so much confidence.

Sasuke couldn't move. He did not know why he remained frozen like this. Maybe because he was startled at the thought of his own teammate attempting his murder. Before he can even think of dodging, the kunai whizzed past him, just barely grazing his cheek. And after that, he heard a thud, then an 'oof'. He quickly spun around to see the kunai lodged in between Naruto's eyes. In a poof of smoke, the blonde Jinchurriki was transformed back into a foreign-nin.

Sakura walked past him and smirked. "You might wanna put ointment on that", she referred to the cut similar to Naruto's. _'I can't believe it.' ,she thought, 'Sasuke Uchiha...acted like...such a pussy!'_

Sasuke's eyes widened. He felt the blood trickled down his cheek. Sakura squatted beside the guy, who was identified as a ninja from the Mist, and checked his pulse with two fingers. She looked up at her raven-haired teammate and nodded. He was pronounced dead.

Sakura got to her feet and stared into the deep woods. "Come on. Naruto must be tied up somewhere."

After Sasuke had finally gained his composure, he stared at Sakura. "H-how did you know that--"

Sakura gave a small laugh, cutting him off midsentence. "Wasn't it obvious? I thought you sensed it too! You are an _Uchiha_ aren't you?"

"Hn" he answered in response.

* * *

It didn't take long for Sakura and Sasuke to find their teammate. They just simply followed the sound of his obnoxiously loud voice. 

After Naruto was freed, the team decided to have a sit.

"_That_ proves that we cannot just trust appearances. We have to come up with a way of knowing that each of us is who we say we are, and not just some imposter who's using a transformation jutsu", Sasuke said

Sakura quietly scanned the area. She eyed the piece of hollowed out bamboo sticking out from the soft dirt. _'Bingo'_

"S-so...", she asked out loud. "What should we do?"

"We need a password", Sasuke answered.

Naruto tilted his head. "Hm? What kind of password?"

"A _secret_ one. Something known only to the three of us. And don't trust _anyone_ who doesn't know it. No matter what"

Sakura and Naruto nodded.

"Okay, listen closely. Because I only wanna say this once", Sasuke started. "The question will be: _'When does a ninja strike?_' and the response is...

_A ninja waits until the time is right.  
When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard,  
When his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night.  
That is the moment for a ninja to strike."_

Sakura glanced at the tube. _'You heard that, Orochimaru? Now, all I have to do is wait..._'

_**

* * *

**_

_**PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW! I took a lot of time and thinking into this. And I rarely think! and...yeah, I still take votes. I didn't count them yet...**_

**_And if you didn't know what the bamboo stick thingy is, that means you haven't watched episode 28...or remembered it. It was used by Orochimaru to amplify a person's voice. Much like a microphone. _**

_**Now, I'm off to mourn Deidara's death...again. **_


	19. ch19

Sorry, guys. I guess it hit november-ish instead. close enough? And im sorry that this must be one of the shortest chapters i evur did. Im sorry, im sorry, im sorry.

* * *

"Uh…you got any shorter ones?", Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"No, Naruto", Sasuke snapped in annoyance.

"What, I thought it was gonna be a pass_word _not a pass-_speech_!", Naruto retorted

Sakura remained silent as the two boys continued their little altercation. She concentrated hard, sensing for the littlest of vibrations. She turned her head at the moment a light breeze hit her face. There was a weird feeling that came about her. Somewhere in that deep, dark, shadowy corner in the forest made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She felt it. She felt that revolting smirk on his face.

She knew it had begun.

"GET DOWN!", Sakura exclaimed as she lunged toward the boys' heads and sent them face-first into the ground.

On that instant, a powerful blast of air cascaded through the woods, just blowing past the crown of their heads. Sakura's pink hair blew violently in her face, blocking her vision. The three huddled close together, with Sakura's hands still clutching their heads.

The team picked up their heads cautiously as the winds calmed down, to see if the coast was clear. Sasuke and Sakura watched as Naruto stood abruptly with a kunai knife in his hand. He made a stance like he was ready to charge.

"hold it, Naruto", Sakura said softly. She was still looking dead on at the forest. She was sure there was going to be a second one on its way.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "How can you act so calm, Sakura-chan? Even _Sasuke _looked like he might piss his pants", he said as he pointed to at the Uchiha boy with his knife. Sakura heard a low growl emit from Sasuke's throat.

Sakura brought a hand up and lowered Naruto's kunai. "If you start acting on your own, you'll get killed. Let's work together if you want to survive this", she spoke sternly.

Both boys looked at each other with eyebrows raised. Then, Sasuke shrugged and eyed the tall grass in front of them.

"Follow me", the raven-haired boy spoke lowly, "and stay low"

Once again, the powerful gust of wind furiously made its way through the trees, striving to knock them down.

The three were on all fours, making their way towards the tall grass. Sasuke was in the lead, then Sakura, then Naruto. The pink-haired nin bit her lip as she looked over her shoulder.

"Stay close, Naruto."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're my teammate, not my _mother_", he said in slight annoyance.

Sakura's lips tightened. She nodded and turned her head. The girl couldn't see a thing in the tall grass. All she saw was green and twigs. She had already lost sight of Sasuke.

Once she made her way out of the grass, she had instantly bumped into said person, who was holding the tip of his knife against her throat.

"Say the password", he said threateningly.

-blahblahblahhh

After Sakura had recited the poem, she immediately panicked.

"Wh-Where's Naruto?", she stammered.

"I'm right here, Sakura-chan"

The Haruno girl froze after she turned around and was face-to-face with the fox-vessel himself.

Sasuke had noticed this and frowned. "Tell us the pass-"

Before Sasuke could finish, Sakura had already granted Naruto a chakra enhanced blow to the face, sending him flying out of the tall grass and into a tree.

Sasuke blinked at Sakura like 'wtf', but she ignored it and charged towards the blonde-haired ninja who lay face flat on the ground.

"What did you do with him?!", Sakura demanded while digging her heal into the backside of his head.

Before Sakura could kick him, the imposter seized her foot and pushed her off. Losing balance, the kunoichi fell backwards.

"You're a sharp one", the blonde-haired ninja hissed. Letting his long tongue slip out, he licked the ends of his mouth clean of blood.

Sakura glared in response, while hiding her smirk. And finally, Sasuke rushed to the scene, with his 'wtf' face still on.

The imposter snickered. "Why, hello there, Sasuke-kun, nice of you to join us", he purred.

Sasuke blinked. "So you found out who this guy is, Sakura?"

Before she could answer, fake Naruto stepped forward and revealed himself as the grass-nin they saw earlier.

"I'm impressed.", the woman said in a smooth voice. "You certainly haven't let your guard down. This promises to be very entertaining." She pulled out a scroll from her sleeve.

Sakura lifted her head and looked down at the parchment in her hand.

"Ahh…you would love to get your hands on our earth's scroll, wouldn't you? It would go so nicely with your heaven scroll", the grass-nin smiled crookedly. Letting her tongue loose, she placed the scroll between her lips and swallowed it whole.

The two teammates stared at her in disgust.

Licking her lips, the mysterious lady smirked. "Well, when this is all over, one of us will have both scrolls…"

Sasuke's eyes grew wide.

"…and the other will be dea—"

"Don't look into her eyes, Sasuke", Sakura snapped. But it was too late. Sakura and Sasuke were caught in her jutsu.

-

**Sasuke's P.O.V **lawl. Plz don't laff at his lines. Im trying to follow the script

Is this…an illusion?

I instantly lunged forward and threw up . I struggled to get up, but fell back down.

No, it's more than that...her thirst for blood is almost palpable! Looking into her eyes...I saw the moment of my own death.

I sat there, frozen stiff. Our eyes locked into an intense stare.

Who is she? _WHAT_ is she?

"S-Sakura?", I turned to face Haruno. She had it just as bad as me. We have got to get away from her. She's Death.

-----

kay, u wanna kno why its short? i was watching the english dub so i could remember what happened, but it kept freezing my computer , so i was like SCREW THIS SHIT! and i wasnt able to see the whole episode. so i just stopped at that.

DOES ANYONE WANNA GIVE ME THE EXACT SCRIPT????

COMMENTS!!!


	20. ch20

**OK, yeah thanks to NOBODY for helping me get the exact script. i was so desperate, i had to get all the words out of the manga. **

**Gah, enough complaining...enjoy the chapter **

* * *

_**Sasuke's P.O.V.!?!?!**_

_This is bad... Without bothering to struggle moving my head, my eyes scanned the grounds for any signs of hope to escape. __We must run... I could hear myself panicking. But I tried my hardest not to show it on the outside._

_"Kukuku...", I heard a nasally chuckle coming from the woman. "You can no longer move", she said lazily; her eyes were daring me to do so._

_damn... Apparently, she could easily read the fear written on my face. But I still managed to glare._

_Peering down at my hand, I forced itself to reach into my back holster, pull out the kunai, and get a firm grip on it. I felt the beads of sweat on the back of my neck as I struggled to move my legs._

_My eyes traveled from the ground, to the dangerous woman in front of me. She had also held a kunai of her own, raising it just above her head, the same way I had seen Sakura do it before we were attacked. "I expected you to be more of a challenge...how disappointing...__", she purred with wild blood lust in her eyes. A crooked smile spread across the grass-nin's face as she was ready to strike._

_C'mon Uchiha...' I screamed inwardly. __'Move!!!'_

_Just as her blade was a couple of inches from my face, I had lunged the knife onto my thigh._

_Instantly gaining back the feeling, I grabbed for Sakura and made a dash up the tree, where we would be hidden amongst the branches and leaves._

_I let out a wince as Sakura felt heavier and her frozen body sagged down to the point where her weight pressed onto the knife sticking out of my thigh._

_Finding a sturdy branch to rest on, I set Sakura down beside me and leaned my back against the tree. I furiously pulled out the blood-stained kunai from my skin and slipped it back into its compartment._

_I glanced up at Sakura, who had finally regained her composure, staring blankly at me._

_"Sasuke, are you alrii-"_

_I brought a hand over her lips as I looked over my shoulder for any sign of the murderous grass ninja._

_'We must run before she finds us...but how...'_

_I heard a few more muffled sounds coming from Sakura's mouth. Her lips kinda felt warm and funny against the palm of my hand...and her breath on my skin...Gah. Annoying woman. Can't she see how bad this situation is?_

_There was so much loud mumbling, I could barely focus._

_"Shut UP, Sakura" I snapped in a hushed tone. I felt her hands pry my fingers off her mouth and let out a blood-curdling shriek._

_I whipped my head around and glared at her._

_"Snake!", I heard her scream out, pointing to a giant silhouette figure from behind the tree.  
_

_It didn't take a few seconds for me to spring backwards into mid air just as the serpent snapped at me.  
_

_I found myself frozen with shock as I took a good look at the size of the monster. __'Damn it. How could I not notice that?'_

_As we were still in the air, my eyes grew wide in horror as I gazed upon the serpent's face. More and more did the face begin to resemble that horrid-looking grass-nin; until my mind finally registered that this indeed __was the grass-nin._

_In utter panic, I wielded all my shuriken towards the beast before I landed roughly onto a wide, thick branch. I watched as the giant snake hissed in pain and fell onto a tree branch, completely crushing it in the process._

_Giving a sigh of relief, I leaned forward to inspect the corpse at a distance. I thought I did it. I was beginning to feel well accomplished...but that was until I nearly choked on my own spit as I watched a human figure emerge from the serpent's scaly body._

_"N-no way...", I heard myself mutter._

_"I sense your fear and desperation..." came the voice...  
_

_I stared down at the snake-woman in horror._

_"It's only natural...a prey should never let down its guard...not even for a moment...In the presence of its predator!", she let out an amused chuckle, licking her lips hungrily. _

_Before I could even realize it, Her upper torso shot forward, stretching and stretching as she coiled her self around the tree branch on which I stood on._

_I found myself frozen again. Her eyes were too mesmerizing. I couldn't bring myself to run away or attack. I was a dead man._

_Just as she was about to attack, a kunai flew past her nose, and hit the branch that was just a few inches away from her face. The woman stopped and averted her gaze over to the source of the attack. _

_"Looks like I came just in time!". hmph. Loud, cocky, annoying...yeah. I knew that voice. _

_I saw the boy from the corner of my eye, standing triumphantly on an adjacent tree branch._

_"So...What was that password again?", the blonde idiot grinned. _

_"Naruto, I know you think you're cool and here to save us", I said, spinning around to glare at him. "But Forget it! Run away while you still can! This one is on a whole 'nother level!"_

_Naruto could only roll his eyes.  
_

_The grass-nin gave a dark smirk. "So, Naruto-kun, I see you managed to escape from my friend...well done..."_

_Naruto looked taken aback by her words. I heaved a frustrated sigh. '__With the dobe around, he's just here to make the situation much harder than it already is. What to do...'_

_"okay, okay...I don't know what's going on here, but you've been picking on my friends, and I don't like that.", Naruto pointed an accusing finger at the black-haired woman. " So you just better slither on back to your hole, snake lady, before I make a pair of shoes outta ya!"_

_HUH?! The little idiot! He's just gonna get all three of us killed! I've got to do something. I shifted my gaze from Naruto, to the snake lady. It's no use...there's only one way..._

_Coming to my decision, my sharingan had completely faded as I reached into my back pocket._

_"You can have it", I heard myself saying out loud. All eyes turned to me. "The scroll right? That's what you want." I revealed the scroll in my hand and brought it up for her to see. "Alright then. Take it and leave us in peace."_

_I heard a few gasps coming from my teammates' mouths. The grass-nin smirked._

_"Sasuke!", I heard Naruto's enraged tone. "You're just gonna hand the scroll over to the enemy? No way, what's wrong with you--"_

_""Shut up and stay out of it!", I yelled; my temper rising ._

_From the corner of my eye, the snake-woman's torso stood straighter, with a hand holding up her weight. _

_"Very wise...Very sensible.", she said with an approving face. "Sometimes the helpless prey, IF they are to save their own skins, realize that their only hope is to distract the predator...with something even more precious..."_

_I inwardly cringed with disgust, looking away as I tossed the valued parchment over to the enemy. "Take it"._

* * *

**hmm...bored? I am too. Let's take a break and go see what past- Kakashi and Anko are up to, shall we?**

**ooh.la.la.**

Kakashi, Anko, and a team of elite ANBU dudes stand before a couple of memorial stones, studying the corpses sprawled on the grass. The purple-haired jounin cringed as she looked down at them.

"All their faces…", Anko muttered in disgust, as she squat before the dead victims. Her eyes shifted from from their i.d. cards, to the places where their faces _should_ have been.

"…they're melted", Kakashi finished her sentence and heaved a sigh. Inwardly, he had hoped that Sakura had been lying all along.

"...Exactly. I apoligize I even doubted you, Hatake. This is definitely _his _doing...", Anko sighed and turned to her Anbu team.

"Listen up!", Anko announced "We will proceed into the gates and have the forest surrounded. Kakashi-san has disguised one of his elite ninjas to help make our rendezvous a success." She turned around and gave Kakashi a rather skeptical look.

"She _will _make this successful, right Hatake? Or do I have to go in and lure him in myself?"

Kakashi shook his head and grinned under his mask. "She's one of my best. I think she'll manage." _I hope... _

* * *

_--Unfortunately, the dobe made a grab for it, before punching me in the jaw and calling me a coward...The woman grew impatient with us and had decided to finally kill us. But Naruto wouldn't let that happen...of course...the little idiot decided to spring into action and defeat that freaky demon once and for all. That didn't go so well either. I must admit, Naruto made some impressive stunts back there. I was even willing to believe that Naruto could actually defeat her..._

_His powers...they were insane. It was like nothing I've ever seen before. It looked almost as demonic as the snake-woman's. _

_Naruto...he housed the fox demon, right? I didn't catch everything the grass-nin said. But she did **something **that made my stomach churn. Her fingers **flamed **purple chakra, plunging it towards Uzumaki's gut. _

_...Soon after, he lost consciousness and got tossed aside. _

_ So here we are, caught in some paralysis jutsu, with Sakura by my side. I had just survived a lengthy battle with the nameless snake-woman...tied her to a tree and burned her ass to a crisp._

_Or so I thought... _

_**:End POV** :_

* * *

"Such mastery of the sharingan at so young an age...", The grass-nin's voice evolved into a more masculine tone, "...you're a true Uchiha after all...Yes, you'll do nicely! You are definitely his brother if anything, your eyes are keener than Itachi's." 

Sasuke flinched. "Who are you!", he demanded.

The man smirked, then with a swift movement, he tore off his remaining flesh, revealing the true face underneath.

"My name is Orochimaru...but for now, I will deal with you later...", his golden eyes traveled towards the pink-haired girl kneeling beside the boy.

The snake-man frowned. "Alright, little girl. You can come out now. You're not fooling me."

Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as the girl next to him had vanished in a poof of smoke.

'_N-no way...don't tell me...I've been with her clone the whole time!'_ he thought wearily.

The young Uchiha heard high-pitched laughter echo throughout the quiet forest. Craning his neck to the left, he caught a glimpse of the silhouette figure behind the snake master.

She leaned on the trunk of the tree, nonchalantly twirling a kunai in between her fingers.

"It's about time you guys finished...", the kunoichi sighed and lightly pushed herself off the base of the tree. "So I finally get to meet the legendary homo-sannin". She stepped further onto the tree branch.

Though his back was still turned to her, she could sense the deep frown on the sannin's face.

The girl made a pout and brought a finger to her cheek. "Did _I _just say that? Oh, I'm sorry. I _meant _the legendary _snake_-sannin. My bad...", she cooed. She slipped the kunai back in her holster and flashed Sasuke a smirk.

Sasuke's eye twitched. _'Is she trying to get herself killed? Did she not see what the bastard did to Naruto_..._to me???'_

"So you've heard of me? I'm almost flattered.", the snake-man replied, ignoring the girl's first comment.

"Oh, _don't_ be!", the girl retorted. "I know all about you. You are a missing-nin in my bingo book. Therefore, you have been forbidden from entering this village. You betrayed your comrades...your _teammates_! All for your insane quest for power!", she seethed. "I'm _not _letting that happen again!"

_'again?'. _The sannin slowly turned around to face the mysterious pink-haired girl. Little did he know that a certain Uchiha had been on Sakura's mind at the time.

"Fine, you've got my attention." Orochimaru said. His eyes studied hers intensely. _'How much does this mere genin girl know?'_

Sakura smirked and began her fighting stance. "Good. Now get outta here...or else."

* * *

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

I'll update soon.

review?

* * *


	21. ch21

**I wanted to update before I go to school tomorrow…**

**I don't own Naruto…yeah…**

-------

The sannin's expression darkened. "Or else _what_? Do you possibly think that you can harm _me_?" He eyed the pink-haired genin up and down. "You have some nerve to be talking back to a _sannin_!"

"You know, I really don't give a rat's ass.", the kunoichi replied coolly. She balled up her fist, and with all her might, slammed it onto the branch they stood on.

The snake-like man instinctively flew backwards while shielding himself from the splinters and wood that scattered about in the air.

Before his feet met a different branch, Sakura was already in front of him, striking him with her chakra-blown fist. The young kunoichi felt his flesh cave in as her fist plunged deeper into his stomach.

And with that, the sannin was sent hurtling into a row of trees, until he was nowhere to be seen among the leaves and branches. The Haruno girl landed next to Sasuke as she panted for air. She crouched down to his level and lifted her fingers to his face, moving it towards her so they could face each other.

"Sas…uke…I'm getting you out of here…It's not safe…", she panted.

Before she could hear Sasuke's reply, she felt something snake around her waist from behind, and lift her off her feet. She gave out a cry of disgust as she ultimately discovered it was _his _tongue constricting around her body. The snake man stood from behind, with his hands planted firmly at his hips, unharmed. A small smirk tugged at the sannin's lips.

"It wasn't safe the second you stepped foot in this forest, little girl. You should know that."

Sakura scowled at him.

"Sasuke-kun is not going anywhere", the sannin added smoothly. He twisted her around to face him. "In fact, why don't we let him watch his little team mate get crushed to death!"

"No!", Sasuke choked out. He can't just sit around and watch her get killed. He struggled to stand up. But, as he got halfway there, his knees buckled underneath him, and he collapsed in a rather pathetic manner. '_Shit, this jutsu's too strong. It might not wear off for another hour or two.' _He grimaced.

Orochimaru's tongue continued to coil its way up the girl's fragile body, squeezing the life out of her. "I'm almost disappointed, little Haruno. I was hoping we could play a little while longer. But I have important business to attend to. You understand that don't you?"

'_Shit! I can't die NOW!' _she screamed inwardly._**'Shannaro, bitch! There's no way in hell I'm letting you die! At least not like this!' **_Sakura heard her inner persona cry.

A moan erupted from her throat. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. But she's going to complete this mission successfully, even if she has to die trying.

Finding her inner strength take over, Sakura slipped her hands underneath the snake-man's long tongue. Then with a struggled cry, she squirmed her arms apart, elbowing the man's tongue out of its grasp. More and more had her arms pushed away from her sides.

The sannin only smirked wider. '_Just as I thought.' _

As Sakura wrestled with his tongue, a gleaming metal object had caught her eye. In dismay, the girl watched closely as the sharp blade emerged from the sannin's mouth, slowly making its way toward her stomach.

"Enough games. This ends _now_.", Orochimaru spoke dangerously. Suddenly moving his head forward, he had plunged the sword into her abdomen.

The sound of the blade ripping through her flesh had made a ghastly sound, making the need for Sasuke to vomit right then and there.

He was too weak to even call out her name. He felt totally useless and started to shake uncontrollably. If only he had trained harder, he thought. If only he had trained harder!

There was nothing he could do now, but watch his teammate die.

Her emerald eyes were wide with shock. A dark red liquid had trickled down her chin and onto the sannin's tongue. She had a firm grip on the blade, preventing it from tearing right through her.

She couldn't help but laugh inwardly. Her stomach seemed to be a magnet for sharp objects. She remembered, not too long ago, had Sasori's blade thrust into the same spot. Only for some reason, this one hadn't caused her as much pain.

It had been very wise of her that she, upon instinct, had pumped chakra into that area beforehand so that it would cushion the blow.

'Man, this hurts…. Okay Haruno, think of Naruto. What would Naruto do? …That's right. Think of everyone who's counting on you. Tsunade…Sasuke…Kakashi…uh…what's that other guy's name? Whatever, he's counting on me too… whatever his name is…' **'****Uh…sorry to be interrupting, but can we please kick this homo's ass now?'**

_Oh yeah, _Sakura thought. Gathering chakra into her hands, the pink-haired kunoichi successfully pulled out the bloodstained sword from her abdomen while healing the fresh wound in the process. Her eyes flickered to the sannin's.

"You're wrong, Orochimaru. The games are just about to begin", she said haughtily, a malicious glint in her eyes.

Astounded, the sannin quickly drew back his sword and eyed his handiwork. He frowned at the girl and said, "Your wound is in the process of repairing itself. You're a healer…"

"Thanks for pointing that out, _Captain Obvious_.", the kunoichi jeered at him in a sarcastic tone. With all the strength she could muster, she went back to where she left off: pulling this damn tongue off her body.

Just as she broke free of his grasp, the sword lunged forward once more, now aiming a more fatal area. The heart.

But Sakura was more than ready. Getting a hold of his tongue to support her, she caught the traveling blade between her sandals, smirking at the snake sannin's stunned expression.

Followed by a dose of chakra to her feet, she pushed off, landing onto an adjacent branch, with his tongue still in her steel-like grip.

Orochimaru swallowed back his blade and watched the girl in stunned silence. _'This proves it…'_

Her grip was too strong. There was no way for him to slip his extended tongue back into his mouth. 'Exactly what Sakura had wanted.

With chakra radiating out of her arms, she jerked his tongue backward in an effortless tug, yanking the sannins body off the tree limb and into the air. The rosette reeled back her unoccupied fist, plunging it forward as his face neared hers.

Like a human yo-yo, his face rammed into her clenched fist, then, upon impact, he ricochets backwards into the base of a tree, obliterating it, then yanked back in her direction, once again.

From a higher tree limb, Sasuke Uchiha was observing the scene. Never has he seen such strength and hatred in his teammate. _'No…she's too strong…this is not Sakura…it can't be…'_

He watched the dangerous, blood-thirsty man who had almost killed Naruto and himself, being yanked about like a sack of potatoes. She made it look too easy.

No… it's not Naruto to rival against…it's Sakura Haruno…

Fatigue had overwhelmed the kunoichi's body, as the result of major blood loss. She shouldn't even be able to fight like this. She couldn't figure out where this strength came from. Had it been the seal concealed on her forehead? No. Or maybe Tsunade's chakra infused in the necklace. Who knows?

But she loved it. She felt strong. She felt…powerful.

Not for long, though. She had to rest up. She gave Kakashi and his squad enough time… should she ready the signal?

Finally being let go of his tongue, the sannin's body flew into a tree branch, earning Sakura the pleasure of hearing a '_**SPLAT'**_.

Sakura flinched. '_Wait…a splat?' '_The rosette looked up to where the snake-man had landed, and stared at the brown, wet mud dripping off the sides of the tree bough. It had been a substitution. What a waste of energy. She had been so focused on beating the shit out of him, that she hadn't even noticed his absence.

She stood frozen as she heard a soft patter of footsteps from behind. She sensed a deep smirk on the sannin's face, which made her anger risen.

"I'm impressed, Haruno. You are a skilled shinobi.", he licked his lips and grinned at her with hungry eyes. "You just might be a threat. I can't have you ruining my plans"

Sakura did not turn. Instead, she slipped her fingers into her holster and took out a kunai, followed by a piece of paper.

The sannin eyed the paper with interest. _'An explosive note?'_

The pink-haired girl slowly and serenely wrapped the explosive around the handle of the kunai. She turned her head at an angle, allowing the man to see her jaw line.

"I think you'll find me more than just a threat, Orochimaru. You can count on it"

Orochimaru almost snorted. "Now what are you going to do with that?" he asked with an amused tone. His eyes shifted from the girl's face, to the kunai in her hand. "Surely, you don't believe you can harm me with a paper bomb."

Ignoring his comment, Sakura flung the kunai straight up into the air, flying past the treetops and into the clouds. She threw it rather high.

The snake sannin watched in shock as the small speck in the sky had exploded in a loud 'Bang', tainting the clear blue sky with black smoke.

The sannin glanced back at the spot where Haruno had been, but she was gone. He eyes instantly scanned all around him. Sasuke and the fox vessel had disappeared as well.

Orochimaru inwardly kicked himself for falling into the girl's trap. It had clearly been a distraction…but was there more to it?

If it had been a signal, then he'd be damned. He couldn't afford to have another distraction. _'No, if it were a signal…then she would have known we were here to begin with.'_

But he couldn't take any chances. He swiftly leaped from tree limb to tree limb, heading deeper into the forest. _'They would reach the tower eventually. If I get there before them, Sasuke Uchiha will be mine.' _He licked his lips in excitement. Although- the sannin couldn't help but think about that pink-haired girl.

Had she known about his plans? She didn't seem surprised when he had encountered the two in the beginning.

Come to think of it, he remembered how she looked at him when the teams assembled at the gate. It was a dirty look. A look of hate and anger…

How can a girl hold such hate for a stranger she had just met?

His thoughts were interrupted as he sensed a presence in front of him. He looked up to find a silver-haired man with a hetai-ate concealing his left eye, and a purple, spiky-haired woman with a brown trench coat. Both were standing comfortably on a tree branch from above.

"Hm…" the sannin found himself grinning wickedly. " Two familiar faces I see"

Silently, the silver-haired jounin made a hand signal, and in a blink of an eye, Dozens upon dozens of ANBU emerged from tree trunks and braches as far as the eye can see.

"I told you she wouldn't let us down", Kakashi said to Anko. Inwardly, the copy-ninja felt relieved for the girl.

Anko smirked. "She did good, didn't she?", she replied.

Orochimaru stiffened. His theory had been correct after all. _'Sasuke Uchiha will have to wait.'_ He thought to himself as his eyes scanned the number of ANBU. _'and you too, Sakura Haruno…'_

* * *

Sakura came across a stream and sat Naruto's and Sasuke's bodies against a boulder. All three of them were concealed by the huge rock, which stood well over 5 feet. They would be safe there. For now… 

Sasuke noticed her staring at him, as if she was contemplating on something. She placed her palm on her shoulder, whispering 'Kai' and released the paralysis jutsu that had been cast on him. He nodded his thanks.

The two stared at each other for a couple of seconds, until Sakura broke their gaze and looked down at Naruto's unconscious form. Unzipping his orange jumpsuit, Sakura revealed his pale skin. She placed a hand on top of the boy's naval and let her fingers linger on.

"What are you doing?", Sasuke asked a bit unsurely.

"I'm inspecting the damage", she replied simply.

"Oh…"

-Pregnant silence-

"So…did you find out what's wrong with him?"

"…Yes. But it's not important… He'll wake up soon"

"Not important?"

"Not important."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way"

Sasuke could feel the anger boiling inside of him. "You are a _healer_, aren't you? That man said so himself! I wonder what else you've been keeping from Naruto and me."

Sakura frowned. "Why, you ungrateful…", she stopped mid-sentence and shook her head irritably. "No, You wouldn't understand".

"Understand _what_,Sakura?"

Sakura ignored it and re-zipped Naruto's shirt. "It's some kind of seal. I don't have enough chakra to break it. And besides, this seal was made by a sannin, so it should be fixed by a sannin."

"And where do you suppose we find another sannin?", he retorted.

Sakura sighed. "Please, Sasuke. Whenever we are alone, you're always trying to pick a fight."

The young Uchiha could only glare. Unfazed, Sakura drew attention to her own injuries. She had managed to stop the bleeding, but she barely had any chakra to repair the tissue. She was used to this kind of pain, so she paid no heed to it.

She felt Uchiha eying her raw stomach and she let a small smile escape her lips.

"You should really take care of that." she heard him mutter.

She carefully leaned her back against the boulder and slowly closed her eyes. She was too tired. She'll need the rest to recharge.

"You need chakra, right?", he asked.

She peaked at him through a half-lidded eye.

"Use half of mine…", he offered. He watched her blink at him rapidly.

"Y-you sure?", she asked, straightening her posture against the rock.

"Whatever…", he stared at the ground as he rose his two hands toward hers. Hesitantly, she took them, and started drawing out his chakra.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun", satisfied, she let go of his hands and repaired the damaged tissue.

She hadn't noticed that she uttered the additional suffix, but _he_ did. He smirked as he too, leaned on the hard rock beside her and closed his eyes.

He'll find out sooner or later…

* * *

**This is all I could do for today. Hopefully I can type up another chapter during my free period…**

** YA WANNA KNOW WHAT MAKES ME SAD? And I'm sure many of you have experienced it as well…**

**I get excited for that **_**one **_**review that shows up on my screen…then when I open it, it just says **

'_**Update'**_

**Got a lot of those…a real killjoy for me…**

** but I'm just saying...  
**


	22. ch22

:Author's Note:

**Hey to you all.**

So, I'm pretty glad some of you aren't confused anymore.

WOW i have _got _to rewrite some of those **crappy chappies**.

:)

err, yeah...

* * *

_**Chapter 23 (omg) :**_

/BTW/ this scene was the HARDEST to write out. and I tried my best to tone it down on the crack.

enjoy

* * *

Sakura's eyelids began to flutter open as the sun's rays cascaded through the trees and danced across her face.

"Crap!"

The young kunoichi jolted up as she came to recall particular events that happened the day before.

"Crap, Crap, Crap!", she repeated under her breath. The rosette got onto her feet, gingerly made her way around sleeping bodies, and toward the quiet rivulet flowing downstream.

Plopping onto the ground, Sakura swiftly dips her cupped hands into the water before bringing them up to her lips.

_'Mm…refreshing' _she thought while taking more big sips.

Suddenly, she felt mr. sun's warm presence disappear in a blink, and instead found herself sitting in someone's shadow.

Sakura turned to find her raven-haired teammate who was towering over her body with emotionless eyes and hands shoved in pockets.

"We overslept" Sasuke stated in a low voice.

Sakura slowly nodded in response. "And to top it off," she added grimly, "we don't have any scrolls in our possession... since that gay-ass sannin burned our heaven scroll". She sighed as she got up and dusted herself off.

The boy glared at his feet, his fists were clenched at his sides. "We're gonna have to work twice as fast. And we'll need an ample amount of energy to do that. Lucky for us, we haven't eaten the whole day and the dobe is still out cold" his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Sakura's face was unreadable as she brushed past him and bent down to gather her belongings.

"Let's move out. There's a slight chance we'd be able to reach the tower before nightfgall. Keep in mind, Orochimaru and his followers can easily pick up on our trail. So keep your eyes peeled. Understood?"

"Hn" was his response. He blankly stared down at the blonde whose body was sprawled out on the gravel.

Sakura's attention turned to Naruto as well. "Ah, he'll recover in an hour or so. In the meantime, you can carry him on your back." A small smirk appeared on her face when she perceived a flicker of disgust on his face.

The girl tilted her head. "I'm sure a strong, muscular shinobi like yourself wouldn't mind carrying a little extra weight"

The Uchiha youth rolled his eyes and went off to gather his bag and his dobe.

Silently, Sakura tore her gaze away from Sasuke and looked toward the tall trees in the far distance.

_'Please be safe you two'_

-

**TWO HOURS BEFORE… -(muy importante: _-sigh-_just in case you forgot. Pakkun is Kakashi's ugly talking dog. **

**_him_, future-kakashi and that other dog(whose name would not care to look up) are DISGUISED as bunch of genin kids)**

A teenage girl with black hair which fell all the way to her thigh cried out in frustration, "Kami, how hard is it to find a pink-haired chick with an emo dude and a blonde freak wearing a bright orange jumpsuit?!"

"Er- I dunno, Kin. How hard _is _it?", asked the boy with the air holes implanted in his palms.

Kin heaved a sigh "That was supposed to be a rhetorical question. Little cunt…"

"Guah?! Watch who you're mouthing off to you slut-faced ho-bag-"

"Kin! Zaku! You two better not be doing what I think you're doing," a mummy-like man growled over his shoulder. "I'm in a pretty shitty mood today, so I want just PEACE and QUIET until we reach our destination."

"Whatever", Zaku mumbled. _'What's he talking about. He's **always** in a shitty mood'_

"Dammit. No wonder Orochimaru-sama put _me _in charge of you two. I'd rather hang around a pair of chattering monkeys. With rabies."

Kin couldn't help but roll her eyes. "_Oh please. He's_ _no better than the rest of us_'

Almost at that very second, Dosu whipped around and pulled out a dagger from under his cloak. His eyes were alert and menacing.

Kin immediately froze. _'Shit. Did he like, read my mind?!'_

Much to her surprise (again), the dagger whizzed past her, into a nearby bush. Instantly, 3 foreign-nin soared out of their hiding spot and landed eight feet in front of them.

Instinctively, she and Zaku drew out a kunai of their own.

Dosu narrowed his eyes toward the guy in front. He looked about the same age as him, but had spiky- black hair and dark eyes. His eyes shifted onto the boy's hetai-ate.

_'Hn. A rock-nin.' _

Behind him, a short pudgy boy with bags under his eyes. And the other one, who had snow-white hair and a very wolf-like appearance.

"Hey, Dosu. Who are these punks?", Zaku asked. "Say the word and I'll blast them away with my super slicing sound wave!!

"That won't be necessary", His mummy-teammate hissed in reply, taking a glance towards him. "We're not going to waste our energy on these pathetic lowlifes. We have important obligations-"

"Who are you calling lowlifes?," the pudgy one snapped, clearly insulted.

His leader closed his eyes and let out a sigh. " Just save it, Pakkun. You two keep on the look out, as planned. I'll just get this over with." The mysterious spiky-haired rock-nin began to crack his knuckles.

"You got it Kakashi-san," Pakkun nodded and vanished along with his partner.

Now Dosu was insulted by the lack of emotion the one called Kakashi had on his face. _'Wait a second...**Kakashi**??' _He gasped out loud. _'Nope. Doesn't ring a bell'_

"So yeah, I've been ordered to kill you sound kids and take your earth scroll. No hard feelings but...", he reached for the katana that's been strapped to his back.

Kin, and Zaku broke out in mock laughter.

"I-Is this guy serious?!" Kin bellowed.

"Yeah, what a joke" Zaku snickered.

They looked over at Dosu who was silent for the whole time. Then they looked over at the rock-nin who had on a smug expression. His katana began to glow and spark with electricity surging through his whole body.

That shut'em up.

**(A.N. Who would've known that Kakashi copied this Chidori Nagashi shit from Sasuke?)**

* * *

"Damn, I can't believe I missed out on the whole fight," Naruto whined " I really wanted to see Sakura-chan whip that demon-lady's fugly ass-"

"Keep it down!" Sasuke and Sakura hissed simultaneously.

The blonde cringed. "Sorry! _Sheesh..._"

Sakura shook her head. "I already told you, Naruto. We don't wanna draw attention to ourselves out here. And that _demon-lady_'s really a man in disguise, remember?"

Team 7 continued to leap from tree branch to tree branch with Sasuke in the lead (as usual) and the other two close behind.

"Tch. I _know_. Orochi...whatever-it-was" the blonde fox vessel responded with a pout.

Sasuke began to slow down his pace so his body would go right in between Naruto and Sakura as they leapt.

"Naruto. I need to speak with her for a minute" Sasuke spoke without even sparing him a glance.

"Who? Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Who else, dobe?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. "_Fine_, no one's stopping you," he sneered.

Few Seconds later...

"I need to speak with her _privately_" Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth.

"I get it! I'm going, I'm going." In a 'humph', Naruto took a big chakra-powered leap several branches ahead until he was in the lead. And out of hearing range.

"I liked it better when he was unconscious..." Sasuke muttered inaudibly.

"So...," the girl beside him started, " What's on your mind?"

Hearing no response, she briefly cleared her throat as she stole a curious glance towards her teammate.

"This Orochimaru..." his eyes suddenly met hers, which nearly threw her off balance. "What exactly does he want with me?," he asked, continuing to watch her from the corner of his eye.

Sakura quickly averted her gaze, and suddenly found her blue sandals a bit more interesting to look at.

**_"Yay! You're totally prepared. You know exactly how to answer this question!"-Inner Sakura cheered._**

"Uh, I don't know..." she lied. _SFX in background: alter ego Sakura choking on her spit._

"Uh, I think you _do_." he replied coolly. She wasn't looking, but she had a gut feeling the Uchiha was a little annoyed with her response.

"Alright, you caught me. He totally wanted to _drag _you to his lair, strip you of your clothing, and do you from behind. Satisfied?"

"..."

Sakura continued to avoid his scowl. "Sorry, I take that back. I couldn't resist, you know?"

"Hn"

There was silence after that. Sasuke remained impassive, and Sakura was busy blowing her bangs out of her face.

"Orochimaru...he kinda reminds me of you. I mean, come to think of it," The pink haired youth stated blankly.

Sasuke's eyes slightly narrowed. "how so?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't know. You're both mysterious, intelligent...strong...and don't forget a downright bastard. Basically the same personality."

"Don't compare me to that guy."

Sakura bit down on the inside of her cheek.

"I think you heard me talking about him being an S-class criminal. A missing-nin?"

"Like Zabuza," she heard him mutter to himself.

"Sure. Only a thousand-times stronger than Zabuza. Do you know what village Orochimaru came from?"

"no"

"Right here in Leaf."

"..."

"He wanted revenge on Konoha. Only a few people in this leaf village know why." she glanced at him. "I'm one of those few. But we'll save that for a later time."

Again, she heard no response. But she assumed he wanted to hear some more.

"In order to have his revenge, he must obtain a great deal of power. That's why he fled. Now you're probably wondering whats this got to do with you," she rambled on.

"...Aa". Though he would never admit it, her raven-haired teammate was slightly impressed by how much his friend knew. Yes, _friend_.

" He would do anything to get back at Konoha. If he thinks you're gonna make it a reality, then so be it."

Sasuke blinked. Really wasn't the answer he was expecting.

_'That went well, don't you think?'_ Sakura was quite pleased by the way she handled the situation. She took a big leap. _**Inner Sakura rolled her eyes. 'If you say so.'**_

"Hey, teme! If I didn't know any better, I 'd think you were flirting with my Sakura-chan" Naruto said over his shoulder. This snapped Sakura rudely out of her thoughts.

"Hn, you're right. You _didn't _know any better." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Why, you son-of-a-bitch."

"You wanna come over here and say that to my face?"

Naruto whipped around and went right in his face." I said, You. Son. Of. A Bitch! What, are you _Deaf_?"

"Watch it you two. We're traveling 30 feet above ground level, and I _won't _hesitate to push you off!" the very vexed kunoichi raised her fist menacingly.

Naruto shivered. _'Sometimes I forget how violent she really is...'_

"Sakura, up ahead." Sasuke spoke suddenly. "I think they're leaf ninja." Sakura and Naruto followed Sasuke's eyes and squinted at the same direction he was facing.

"Naruto, can you recognize them from over there?" she called to the boy up in front.

Naruto stared at the three ant-like figures. "I think so...wait! I see them! It's Hinata, Kiba, and that weird bug-freak!"

Sasuke and Sakura sped faster to catch up with Naruto.

"You mean _Shino_." Sakura corrected. She liked Shino. She had grown to respect the man and his bug friends.

"Should we just pass through?" Sasuke asked "What if they'll attack?"

Sakura's forehead creased. She had just realized Sasuke and Naruto were treating her like team captain. It was a very pleasurable, yet creepy experience the teen kunoichi. She had never been the 'head honcho' in all the years of her shinobi life.

"Uh, we'll just pass through. I'm not in the mood for friendly conversation," she announced, " I _doubt _team 10 would try to attack us. But let's just hope for the best..."

--

"What's that, Akamaru? Someone's behind us? Who?"

"Bark, Bark"

"You don't say? Heh, I thought by now they'd be wormfood"

"W-why would you say that Kiba-kun?"

Kiba snickered. "Because that moron_, Naruto _is in that team. Duh."

Hinata blushed when she heard her beloved's name. "That's not nice, Kiba-kun."

The Inizuka boy frowned. "Whatever. I say we take their scrolls!"

"Don't be absurd Kiba. That Uchiha kid is on that team. And my bugs tell me the female of the group is just as strong."

"Besides...don't we have all the scrolls we n-need?" the hyuuga girl asked timidly.

"Fine, fine" Kiba rolled his eyes. "But only because they're leaf. The next foreign ninja I see is mincemeat."

As they tree-hopped, the three made way for the approaching team.

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata eyed Team 7, who were coming up beside them. Neither of them made eye contact. Except for Naruto of course. He just _had _to say it...

"HI HINATA! HI KIBA! HI SHINO! We're _so _gonna pass this exam, dattebayo-"

"Naruto, you idiot! What did I just say?!" Sakura struck him upside the head, which caused him to fall back.

But don't worry, he caught up to them.

"Oh yeah..." Naruto said shamefully.

He turned to the Hyuuga opposite him, "Sorry, Hinata. I'm supposed to ignore you guys" he grinned.

Hinata felt her cheeks burn up and found herself fainting.

Kiba, who was behind the girl, sped up to catch her before she could descend to the ground below.

"Hinata!" team 10 stopped on the same tree branch, allowing team 7 to go ahead of them. Kiba tried to shake her awake, but failed. Shino continued to watch the group from behind his dark spectacles.

_'What's the rush?'_

* * *

Naruto heard his stomach growl, rather loudly. "Man, I would _kill_ for a bite to eat. We shoulda asked Hinata if she was carrying some ramen in her pack. Or maybe Kiba would let me eat his dog..."

"Stop complaining, Naruto" Sasuke commanded. You're not the only one who's starving here."

They both turned to Sakura and gave her expectant looks. Well, Naruto did. Sasuke looked sorta blank there.

Sakura wordlessly opened her pack and pulled out a tiny black pouch. She reached for whatever was inside and inserted one in her mouth. It was the others to see.

She tossed it to Naruto, who was closest to her. "They're food pills. It's 'supposed to increase your energy for a certain amount of time. It won't be enough to cease the hunger, but it's _something_ at least."

Naruto placed one on his hand, and rolled it around in his palm like he was inspecting it. "So do I eat it or something?"

Sakura's mouth twitched. "Only if you wanna kick some serious ass tonight"

"Hell yeah I do! I've been dying for some action these past two days." He happily popped it into his mouth, then passed it to Sasuke, who immediately swallowed one as well.

"What are the side affects?" the raven-haired boy asked while tossing the pouch back to Sakura.

Sakura's mouth twitched again. _'Notice how he asks right after he put it in his mouth'. _Meanwhile, Naruto was leaping from one branch to another in a speed twice as fast as before.

"Don't worry about the side affects," she said, "I'm only allowing one per-SHIT, Naruto look out!"

"Huh?" Before he could stop himself, a figure appeared right in his path.

Sakura and Sasuke cringed as they watched their teammate collide with the unidentified ninja. The tangled pair went falling 6 feet below onto a sturdy branch. Sakura and Sasuke carefully descended one by one towards the battered figures.

_'Anko?' _Sakura thought to herself. She approached the purple-haired woman who was comfortably sitting on top of Naruto. The jounin dusted herself off, then helped the blonde on his feet.

"Thanks for breaking my fall, kiddo" Anko grinned sheepishly.

Worry replaced the bewildered expression on the genin-girl's face. "Hi...er-what are you doing here?" Sakura asked.

Anko's grin suddenly disappeared and her eyes were wet and weary. "I uh...barely made it alive. There were clones. _Hundreds _of them. All our men are dead or soon _will _be..."

Sakura's lips parted, but never uttered a word. The boys were also silent, not daring to make a sound. They looked at each other in all seriousness, then gazed at the trembling kunoichi. She couldn't look at them. She'd feel vulnerable and weak. She won't let them see that. So the girl avoided their stares, and allowed stray locks of hair fall over her eyes.

"Is he...dead too?" she asked, barely over a whisper. Anko felt pity for this girl.

" I honestly don't know. I couldn't find him anywhere. Last time I saw him, he and Orochimaru were locked in an intense battle."

Sasuke stiffened when her words reached his ears. His eyebrows furrowed. _'What battle?'_ he took a glance at Sakura. _'How is _she_ involved in any of this?' _

"Ahem. Uhm...sorry to interrupt your conversation, but me and Sasuke are feeling a little left out here..." said Naruto with an awkward wave of his hand.

Sakura blinked. "...yeah...sorry I almost forgot."

"So are you gonna tell us or what? I hate not knowing things..." Naruto pouted.

Sakura's eyes shifted from Naruto, to Sasuke, to Anko. " Now is not the time. But there's been a change of plan."

Anko nodded. "I'm glad I bumped into you in the first place", she gazed down at the deep forest ahead of them," I was looking for help. Some of these guys need lots of medical attention".

Again, Sasuke and Naruto turned to Sakura, who's eyes held anger and determination.

"Lead the way."

* * *

Meanwhile, somewherez else...

A flock of birds' feathers were rustling loudly amongst the treetops. Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee were dozing off, leaning against the hard bark of the tree trunk. All of a sudden, Neji jolted awake and looked up at the sky. His Byakugan activated.

Neji's sudden movements startled Tenten and Lee, disturbing them from their peaceful snooze.

Tenten yawned. "Neji, wassa-matter?"

"1, 2, 3, 4. There are 4 birds" Neji stated.

Tenten sweat-dropped. "That's...just fabulous, Neji"

"Also, that proctor...her name is Anko, correct?"

"What are you trying to get at, Neji-kun?," Lee asked, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"She is traveling with that Haruno girl. And the Uchiha kid as well."

"Don't forget that loud-mouth weirdo. He's in that group as well." Tenten smirked.

Neji closed his eyes and frowned. "Whatever. We will follow them. I'm curious to know where that jounin is taking them to. We already have all our scrolls so we have more than enough time."

* * *

"Hey, Sakura-chan? Just _who _were you two talking about back there? The one who got to fight with that fugly demon lady?" Naruto asked enthusiastically from behind his pink-haired teammate.

Curious, Anko, craned her neck to get a glimpse of Sakura.

Sakura forced a smile for her teammate. "Ah, don't worry about it. Some fellow just got badly wounded."

Sasuke's dark orbs were fixated on this pink-haired girl. Though he hadn't realized it before, Sakura had been the girl he had grown to respect. But he could never seem to figure her out. She was definitely hiding something from her teammates. '_Although...'_ his eyes moved to the back of Anko's head. '..._it seems like everybody else knows what it is except us.'_

"Well, so it's just some guy, right?", Naruto said, "What's _this _gotta do with _us_?"

Anko suddenly took a sharp turn. The group quickly followed after her. Sakura decided to ignore Naruto's last question and just stared straight ahead. She sensed a bad feeling. "We're getting close..."

Anko gave a brief nod. But as the female jounin's foot landed on a branch, she felt a strong pain on her left shoulder. She grunted in discomfort, then glanced back at Sakura. "We're close alright."

Sakura halted next to the purple-haired woman and examined her shoulder. The boys stood closely behind her. Sasuke's eyes spotted a strange black tattoo on Anko's shoulder, but only widened when he realized that it was the source of her pain. _'the hell is **that**?'_

Sakura's eyes scanned Anko's entire body. Something was wrong. The sleeve of her trench-coat appeared very damp. Come to think of it, so did other sections of the coat as well.

"Anko, would you remove your coat, please?" the rosette asked politely.

The proctor was hesitant. "Why?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Why _not_?"

Anko glanced at the two boys peeking over Sakura's shoulder. "Well, you know. My blouse is all fishnet... It's completely see-through! I mean, I'd be more than happy to flash my tits in front of two innocent 12-year old boys, but-"

"Oh, _please_...," Sakura said while rolling her eyes. "you're obviously hiding something under there. Just lemme look at it before it gets too serious. Time's running short, you know."

"Fine...," Anko sighed. She smirked at Sasuke and Naruto. "But, seriously. Turn around, would you?"

Sasuke and Naruto did as they were told, both inwardly disappointed they didn't get to see some boobies. haha, little fuckers...

Anko shrugged off her trench-coat, revealing various cuts, stab wounds, and black bruises. Her left arm was poorly bandaged and was soaking with blood. Sakura hurriedly removed the filthy bandages and examined the second-degree burn.

She was about to focus chakra into her fingers until a hand gently smacked it away. She looked up at Anko in surprise.

"Don't." Anko spoke sternly. " I'll be fine. I made it this far haven't I?"

Sakura's eyebrows bunched to together. "What are you saying?"

"There are others who need your medic abilities a lot more than me. Just go now. I think I'll stick around for a little while longer..." she said, wrapping the trenchcoat around her shoulders.

"But...," she stopped and closed her mouth. The Haruno girl didn't know what to do. She _wanted _to help her, but she had to find past-Kakashi, who could be on the verge of dying. And if he's dead, then _she's_ dead. Well, not literally. A small growl emitted from her throat. _'What a drag!'_

Sakura turned around to meet Sasuke's and Naruto's gaze. "I'm sorry, you guys. But you two have to stay with Anko for a little bit."

"What?!" Naruto, Sasuke, and Anko cried out in protest.

"I'm _not _babysitting." Anko crossed her arms to her chest.

"I'm _not _staying with this old hag while _you _take part in all the action!" Naruto stepped forward. His cerulean blue eyes were pleading.

Sakura turned her back to him. "Just please do what she tells you for now. I'll explain it all to you later." She glanced back at Anko and gave her an 'I trust in you to look after them while I'm gone' look. Anko just waved her hand and gave her a look that said 'yeah, and this better be worth it'.

Sasuke notice this and felt a little flustered and anguished. He glared at Sakura. "Just do whatever you need to do and come back." _'You have a lot of explaining to do. You're lucky I'm not complaining...'  
_

Sakura nodded and disappeared within a blink of an eye. "Ja ne"

* * *

When Sakura arrived at the battle-grounds, she was horrified at the sight of dozens upon dozens of bodies sprawled out on the ground. Almost half of them were dangling from vines and tree limbs. And they were all dead.

A deep frown appeared on her face. "What _happened _here?", she muttered to herself. Sakura heard a moan in reply. And it sounded like it was coming form her feet. She looked down, almost shrieking when she felt a hand grasp her leg. It was a man who's other limbs were torn off. A katana was lodged into his back. Sakura flinched. There was no point in trying to save this man now. He had just died.

Mortified, Sakura pried herself from the dead man's grasp and immediately fled. She had sensed Kakashi's signature ahead. She could _taste _it even. Blood, maybe?

But no! He wasn't alone! And that's when she saw him. Leaning against the foot of a tree unconscious. Towering over him was a gray-haired teen, wearing those oh-so familiar round glasses.

Sakura let out a tiny gasp, but loud enough for the man to hear. He whipped around and spotted the pink-haired girl in the shadows.

"Ah, I know you," he smirked, "You're that cute little girl with the strange hair-color."

"What do you think you're doing, Kabuto?" Sakura growled. She glanced down at the scalpel in his hand. "Adding him to your sick little _collection_?"

Kabuto stiffened. "huh, so you know about my collection, I see..." he pushed his glasses further up his nose with his forefinger. "Orochimaru warned me about you before he left to go find Sasuke. He told me not to underestimate your skills."

The Haruno youth began her fighting position. "Oh, _did _he now?"

The sound-nin smirked again. "He also told me you know medic-ninjutsu. Would you care to demonstrate this special ability of yours?"

* * *

**I cant continue this chapter anymore. i feel its long enough... i kno i rushed the ending but its a quarter to midnight at my house. and i have skool and crap the following day.  
**

liek OMG I gave Naruto more than 3 lines in this story. liek no wayyy!!

xoxoxo

review, review, review.


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